Decision to set up quarantine centre on university campus causes unrest

PESHAWAR: The strange decision by the district administration here to set up quarantine centre for coronavirus suspects in the thickly populated University Campus has caused fear and unrest among the dwellers. Ironically, the district administration seems more interested in taking cosmetic measures instead of real steps to tackle the situation and isn’t ready to listen to reasonable arguments.

The district administration is adamant to set up the quarantine centre in the Student Teacher Centre (STC) and some hostels of the University of Peshawar. The university administration, teachers and students of the university have been resisting the decision, but the district administration is not willing to listen to anyone. STC, a residential facility for the teaching fraternity of the University of Peshawar, is located in the middle of the campus. It is surrounded by a number of academic blocks, markets and canteens. “One wonders as to how the district administration could be so naive to take such a silly decision,” a senior university official said. The provincial government had announced closure of the educational institutions till April 5. “If quarantine centres are established at the university campuses, these would not be reopened for at least a year,” a senior professor argued. The University Campus in Peshawar is a unique educational facility in the country housing four leading universities, seven colleges, a number of centres of excellence in different specialties, a number of institutes and over a dozen schools. The campus covering five square kilometres is home to nearly half a million students, teachers, other staff members and their families.

By setting up the ‘isolation centres’ in the educational institutions the government is hoping to control the situation. However things may go wrong. In Mardan, too, the two campuses of Abdul Wali Khan University and the Postgraduate College have been declared as quarantine centres. The decision has led to serious criticism from all the stakeholders. The vice-chancellors, associations of teachers, administrative and other employees and student organizations have strongly opposed the decision and urged the government to immediately review it as it they felt it wasn’t right.

The vice-chancellors of different universities have also added their voice to oppose the decision. They asked the government to revisit the decision and set up the isolation centres away from cities and populated areas. An emergency meeting to discuss the issues was held at the University of Peshawar on Thursday and attended by the vice-chancellors of the University of Peshawar, Agriculture University, University of Engineering and Technology and principal of Khyber Medical College. The participants of the meeting urged the government to set up tent cities outside the cities on war-footing to deal with the situation.

“It is true that it is our national obligation to serve the society and the community at the time of national calamities. But to achieve the purpose, careful steps are required to be taken. The decision taken in haste to set up isolation centres in the middle of heavily populated university campuses would worsen the situation instead of improving it,” one of the participants maintained. The University of Peshawar offered the University Public School and University College for Boys, which are located at some distance from the main campus, for the quarantine centre. The University of Engineering & Technology’s Jalozai Campus and research centre in Hayatabad have already been declared as ‘isolation centres.’

The vice-chancellors urged the Higher Education Department to play its role in resolving the standoff between the universities and the Peshawar district administration. The Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) and associations of teachers and employees at the other universities have already expressed their concerns over the decision to set up the quarantine centres at the campuses and decided to resist it. On Thursday when officials of the district administration tried to occupy some hostels and other buildings in the University of Peshawar, the teachers associated with PUTA resisted the bid. The students, too, have announced to resist the decision. Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba’s nazim Shafiqur Rahman through a statement criticised the decision and asked the government to withdraw it.