KABUL CITY - President Hamid Karzai, during a meeting with recently forcibly retired university teachers, on Thursday said nobody could push them into calling it a day, the President Palace said.
Ex-chancellor of Kabul University Prof. Hamidullah Amin, former Shariah faculty head Din Mohammad Gran, political sciences teacher Dr. Mohammad Tahir Hashimi, science faculty teacher Prof. Mohammad Afzal Omari and veterinary faculty teacher Sultan Hamid, spoke on behalf of other teachers who had been forcibly retired.

They said 32 Kabul University teachers were pushed into an earlier retirement, something unprecedented in the country's history.

The affected teachers said the decision was acceptable to them, but most universities needed teachers, warning the forced retirement of 32 professional and experienced teachers would create numerous problems.

They said the move came at a time when only half of the current academic year had passed, landing students in trouble. It would have been be better if they were sent home at the start or end of the academic year, they said.

The statement quoted President Hamid Karzai as hailing the retired teachers for their academic services, saying nobody would be forcibly retired in future.

The president directed ministries of higher education and finance to look into the issue and teachers whose services were still needed should continue performing their duties.

Karzai also directed the Ministry of Higher Education to praise the retired professors by arranging a ceremony in their honor. (Pajhwok)