Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, June 15: The decision taken by 97-year-old G.D. Langlands, the former Principal of Langlands Public School and College Chitral, to remove Carey Shofield as the principal has drawn lots of flak in Chitral with local people terming the move the last nail in the coffin of education in the backward area.
Background interviews with parents, students and some faculty members of the school by ChitralToday revealed that the move by the former Principal of the school to restore teachers who were removed for incompetence and alleged corruption was not aimed to serve the people.
They also questioned Langlands’ claim of being the sole owner of the school ignoring its board of governors, contribution of the locals, students and teachers as well as the local administration. The joint efforts to make it a reputed institution ended up in smoke with his recent drastic and arbitrary decision.
If you go into the history of the institution, in the early 90s a visionary bureaucrat Javed Majeed came as the Deputy Commissioner of Chitral. It probably was out of his jurisdiction to convert a government rest house into a primary school. But being a bold man, he ignored the formalities and laid the foundation of Sayurj Public School. Able Chitralis like late Waliur Rehman advocate advised him that Chitral lacked a good English medium school and it would be wonderful if he could get some English teachers here. The visionary Javed Majeed convinced visiting university students from England to take on the task. This further resulted in the search of a able Principal. This is how G.D. Langlands turned up at Sayurj Public School.
Langlands, who had ably served Pakistan in many good institutions, including Aitcheson College, was no doubt an asset to Chitral. Through his old students he channelized funds into the institution and raised its level. Langlands was also instrumental in sending many of the students to universities all over Pakistan. Chitral was indebted to him and when the proposal to change the name from Sayurj Public school into Langlands College came up there were not many objections to it. Unfortunately, old age caught up with Langlands. At the age of 90, he lost track of who is who in the institution yet hung on to the administration.
The school lost track, influential people were not paying fee, safarishy teachers were being appointed and taking salaries and going on long leave. The institution started rotting. It was G. D. Langlands himself who started searching for a successor and kept on delaying it. After three years of search, he finally came up with Carey Shofield and what a find she was.
Carey completely changed the institution into a disciplined no nonsense quality institution. The first people to fall in line were the influential people and boy did they clear their dues in a hurry some seven years pending as none were allowed to appear in an exam without that. Then she took on the safarishy teachers and put them through a test.
Teachers bunking classes ended up losing salary. No one was spared especially the influential while many poor hard working teachers rose up in the ranks alienating others with influence. This was the new Langlands College that Chitral was proud of. But this is Pakistan and politics plays up for those that have been in the seat for a while and they can so easily hoodwink a new political entity.
Thus G.D. Langlands at the age of 97 years turns up in Chitral in a state of mind where every day he inquires who is this person travelling with him – his very own escort. With old age, decisionally he is impaired and makes the most unkindest cut of all. With one stroke of the pen, he declares himself the owner of the school, dismisses Carey, reinstates the sacked teachers, asks who this person travelling with him is and leaves with his escort. No Mr G.D. Langlands the students of this institution unanimously say, a friend of this school has become its murderer, this is not how you run an institution.
They added that by restoring the teachers who were kicked out for incompetence, irregularities, etc., Langlands had not only tarnished his own image but also jeopardized the future of hundreds of students.