Governor Punjab has accepted Principal Aitchison College’s resignation

Update: Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman has accepted the resignation of Michael A. Thomson, principal of Aitchison College Lahore.

Geo’s sources at the Governor’s House say that Amina Imran has been appointed as the acting principal of Aitchison College in place of Michael A. Thompson.

Governor of Punjab has also approved the fee waiver policy, according to which, if the student moves to another city for 3 years, he will get a fee waiver of up to 50%.

Previously, the government of Punjab was not able to persuade Aitchison College Principal Michael A Thompson to change his mind and stick to his post.

Thompson did not withdraw his resignation, contrary to an official claim.

Even though the principal resigned, Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman granted him a paid leave for 28 days in hopes of negotiating the matter during that time.

The government, in a statement to the media, claimed that Thompson withdrew his resignation. However, Mr Thompson has told Dawn that he had not withdrawn his resignation.

Principal Thomson had resigned from his post a couple of days ago after developing differences with the Governor House over a change in the college’s fee waiver policy.

He had earlier refused to accept the fee waiver application submitted by the wife of the ex-civil servant, Ahad Cheema. Cheema is now a senator and federal minister for finance ministry.

Cheema’s two sons had to leave the college after the transfer of their mother, Saima Ahad Cheema, also a civil servant, to Islamabad. She had sought retention of the seats and fee waiver from the principal who, quoting the policy, rejected her request.

However, Ahad Cheema approached Governor Balighur Rehman who sent the application to the college’s Board of Governors that changed the fee waiver policy, accepting the application.

In his resignation, Thomson had cited interference in the management of the college.

A protest outside the Governor house and a severe backlash on mainstream and social media resulted in Ahad Cheema sending a letter to the Punjab governor, Balighur Rehman stating that he does not want to avail the fee waiver facility for his children anymore.

Background

Ahad Cheema the federal Minister for Economic Affairs, is currently a subject of backlash for using his position to get a fee waiver for his children at Aitchison College. The waiver was requested by his wife, Saima Ahad Cheema, who is also a bureaucrat, with the request that since their two children did not attend Aitchison college for three years, but kept their seats, they shouldn’t be required to pay. They made the request to the Governor of Punjab who forwarded it to the principal of Aitchison College. The principal resigned in protest.

Ahad Cheema, in a letter to the Punjab governor, Balighur Rehman stated that he does not want to avail the fee waiver facility for his children anymore. He lambasted that politics has overshadowed the “solution-oriented and responsive policy” issued by the governor, which allowed a fee waiver for students under similar circumstances. Cheema said that his family has suffered “mockery, slur and a vilification campaign in this episode just because of my being in public office.”

Cheema also blamed Principal Thomson for orchestrating a strange and pointless controversy, alleging that Thomson had already resigned and is on his way out. “The Principal’s brazen and high-headed refusal of the Board’s and Chairman’s policy decisions is unheard of.”

As a continuation of his claim, Cheema, in Shahzeb Khanzada’s show, reasserted that Principal Thomson had offered him “an individual relief” and “was communicated through some respectable people who were in the knowledge of the matter”. However, Cheema said that his family refused to take any “under-the-table deal” based on principles.

Cheema also urged the governor to “not relent on the principle and not withdraw the new policy under any nefarious pressure” because he believes it is going to be very helpful for students and parents in the future.

Previously, Ahad Cheema, federal minister of economic affairs, has along with the newly elected government landed in a controversy as he is blamed for using his ties and position to influence the principal of Aitchison College Michael Thomson, to change the college’s policy and waive off his children’s fee.

The minister appeared on Shahzeb Khanzada’s show to defend his stance where he described how the policy as totally unfair. “If you just take my name out of this controversy then what is wrong there in Governor Punjab’s orders,” he started off by asking. He asserted that Governor Baleegh ur Rehman has made a fair policy for all.

Cheema laid out how his wife had requested for a leave because of her transfer yet wanted the fee to be waived off because paying fee in two schools was difficult. The principal declined the request and so she requested that the college policy be reviewed. The request was then presented to the Governor who referred it to the Board.

Khanzada then said that the majority of the board had retained the current policy of the college, emphasizing that Governor Punjab was misinterpreting the board because they did not amend the policy. Additionally, he stated how the children were adjusted in a special manner going against college policy which has not been changed in years. To this Cheema responded that, “The principal approached me two times (indirectly) to get this matter resolved in my personal capacity and not agitate it on a policy level and I declined it both the times because we are not interested in gaining any personal favour and we want this to be changed on a policy level.” He further added that if the Principal wants, he can take the names of the interlocutors.

During the course of the interview, Cheema professed he does not want “individual relief” but a decision taken principally. He refused to comment on the charge-sheet issued by the Governor and the comments made by Atta Tarar because that is not his mandate.

The principal of Aitchison College, Michael Thomson announced his resignation in a letter to staff and board members, stating that the Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman’s ‘biased actions undermined the school’s governance and management’.

Thomson’s decision came after the wife of Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Establishment Ahad Cheema, asked for her two son’s school fees to be waived off for three years. She sent Governor Punjab Baligh ur Rehman the request. Following her request, the governor issued an order after which their fees was waived off for three years. But Principal Thomson refused to do so.

Thomson said the decision taken by the governor to ‘extend a favour’ to Ahad Cheema’s family violates the policy of the school.

The letter said that “politics and nepotism have no place in the schools”. He added further, “this is not how I planned to leave Atchison, but I will share with you that a continuation of very poor governance has left me no other choice.” He said that some “prejudiced actions by Governor House have contributed to a breakdown of governance and management, under which I had to finally draw a line.”

In his letter to the members of the management committee, Principal Thomson laid out that paying a tuition fee for a guaranteed place comes under college policy. The policy is applicable for long leave to a maximum of three years leave. He stressed that this request by Mr. and Mrs. Cheema is a “wrong perpetrated on a large scale to suit a smaller outcome.” He closed the letter by saying that he refuses to abide by the order and has informed Syed Babar Ali who is the chairman of the Management Committee. He asserted that he will not play any role in management and admissions after April 1.

Ahad Cheema’s wife who is a senior bureaucrat as per media reports, had applied to the Governor of Punjab for fee waiver and so at the request of the Governor of Punjab, the fee for three year for Ahad Cheema’s children was waived.

Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar said that Ahad Cheema’s children have not been studying in Aitchison College for three years, so his wife applied for fee waiver according to the rules, which was approved by the Governor of Punjab, according to the law. He declared that the issue is being misrepresented.

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Governor Punjab Baligh ur Rehman has rejected the claims of the principal. He said that Ahad Cheema was posted in Islamabad for a year due to his job and Ahad Cheema’s children were not able to go to Aitchison. He emphasised that it was requested to waive the fee for the classes which these children had not taken.

On the issue of resignation of the principal of Aitchison College, the governor of Punjab said that the resignation of the principal was already to become effective in August 2024. The principal of Aitchison College was receiving a salary of Rs. 40 lakhs and the audit of receiving this hefty amount has been started.

The governor claimed that Principal of Aitchison College used to take more than 100 holidays in a year and he ‘adopted this tactic to avoid a probe’.