Privatisation fears: Schoolteachers block The Mall with sit-in

Activists from a PTU faction have been protesting against government

LAHORE: A group of public school teachers continued their protest at Charing Cross on Saturday, blocking the busy intersection for traffic for a second day.

The section of The Mall had earlier been occupied by the Punjab Young Nurses’ Association members.

The schoolteachers, belonging to a faction of the Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU), have been protesting against the so-called public-private partnership initiative.

The protesters chanted slogans against the government and vowed not to leave until their demands were met.



Addressing the protesters, PTU leaders said that teachers were being fired despite a written agreement signed last year that promised security of service. “As many as 4,880 schools have been handed over to the PEF. In the second phase, a similar number of schools will be handed over. Public school teachers are being punished on the basis of Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) examination results. Meanwhile, private schools are exempted from PEC exams,” he said.

Earlier in May, another PTU faction had staged a similar protest on The Mall. It had ended after successful negotiations with the government. The government had assured leaders of the faction that schools will not be handed over to the PEF without consulting them. The government negotiating team, led by School Education Minister Rana Mashhood, had also agreed to review the list of schools that were going to be handed over to the PEF.

Separately, DCO Capt (r) Muhammad Usman has asked the PEMRA to stop media coverage of protests on The Mall. In a letter, Usman said that protests on The Mall had been banned by Lahore High Court. “PEMRA should stop media coverage of protests taking place on The Mall, as they create inconvenience for the general public,” the letter states.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2016.