Aitchison College Principal Michael A Thompson tendered his resignation on Monday, citing nepotism and political interference as the reasons behind his decision.
The Australian educator’s extreme step appears to have been triggered by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman’s move to waive the tuition fees for the sons of PML-N leader Ahad Cheema.
According to media reports, Cheema’s wife had appealed to the Punjab governor to exempt her sons’ fees. Subsequently, the governor issued an order granting a three-year waiver on their fees.
“Politics and nepotism have no place in schools,” Thompson wrote in a letter issued to the college staff.
“Throughout my time as Principal, I have done my very best to protect the school’s reputation while extending compassion to those in need,” he said in the letter, adding that “there is a crucial difference between this pursuit and blatant policy manufacturing to accommodate certain individuals because such people simply insist on preferential treatment”.
Thompson asserted that “this is not how I planned to leave Aitchison”. He said that he would be stepping down from the principal’s post on April 1 and would not be playing any role in the management and admissions process.
The principal added that over the past year, “prejudiced actions by the Governor House have contributed to a breakdown of governance and management”.
“It seems incredulous to me, and quite possibly to most other people, that a school so successful can be subjected to such unwarranted interference and brazen directives. A well-intentioned foreigner does not venture to another country with less than pure intent, and nor should that person act in any way to encourage or facilitate what he considers to be wrong,” the letter detailed.
Thompson said that the letter from the Governor’s House “exonerates Mr and Mrs Cheema from paying a tuition fee under college policy for a guaranteed place after a long leave and all future parents’ requests to a maximum of three years’ leave”.
Thompson had also tendered his resignation back in September 2018, allegedly under pressure from political circles due to disciplinary action taken against some students.
According to reports, the principal faced pressure from the Board of Governors of the college to admit the son of former MNA Kashmala Tariq into A-levels after his expulsion.
However, he later withdrew his resignation after then-Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and provincial education ministers visited him to persuade him to do so.
