The principal of Lahore’s Aitchison College, Michael A. Thompson, tendered his resignation on Monday, citing “prejudiced actions by Governor House” and referring to them as “unwarranted interference and brazen directives”.
Although the letter did not specify the reason for tendering the resignation, media reports suggested the move was prompted by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman’s decision to waive the tuition fees for PML-N leader Ahad Cheema’s sons.
In a letter addressed to the college staff, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Thompson said: “This is not how I planned to leave Aitchison, but I will share with you that a continuation of very poor governance has left me no other choice. Throughout my time as principal, I have done my very best to to protect the school’s reputation while extending compassion to those in need.”
However, he said that there was a difference between this pursuit and the presence of “blatant policy manufacturing to accommodate certain individuals”, adding that “such people simply insist on preferential treatment”.
“Politics and nepotism have no place in schools,” Thompson asserted.
“Over the past year, other prejudiced actions by Governor House have contributed to a breakdown of governance and management, under which I had to finally draw a line.
“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,” he added.
“I leave on April 1 and will not play any role in the management of upcoming admissions,” Thompson stated.
It should be mentioned that Thompson had also tendered his resignation in September 2018, allegedly under pressure from political circles for taking disciplinary action against some students.
According to reports, the principal was facing pressure from the Board of Governors of the college to give admission to the son of former MNA Kashmala Tariq in A-levels after he was expelled earlier.
However, he later withdrew the resignation after then-Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and provincial education ministers visited him to convince him to do so.
Two months before that, the government had revoked the visa of Thomson, an Australian citizen, because he had allegedly denied admission to a boy from an influential family. Later, it had extended the visa only for three months while more than one year was left in the expiry of his job contract.
