Men, women schoolteachers protest at cross purposes

Woman teachers say appointments delayed; men want quota for women.

FAISALABAD:

Dozens of Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) teachers on Wednesday arranged protest demonstrations over recruitments in the Education Department.

Thirty-one recently selected woman SESE teachers said they were protesting against a delay in their postings.

Nabila Kanwal, one of the protesters, told the media they had been selected for the job after a test and an interview. She said they were worried because the department had not handed them their appointment letters.



She said the department had not given any explanation for the delay.

“We are afraid the department would change the results. It appears it wants to prefer male teachers on us.”

The male SESE teachers alleged that the woman teachers had been selected against the posts reserved for them.

“The selection of woman teachers for boys’ schools is an injustice to us. This has resulted in unemployment among men,” Shafiq Ahmad, one of the protesters, said.

“The department should fix a quota for woman teachers.”

Education Executive District Officer (EDO) Waheed Ahmad told The Express Tribune the department had been handing appointment letters to the newly recruited teachers as requests from schools came in.

“Under the rules, a woman teacher can be posted to a boys’ primary school,” he said.

He said more woman teachers had fulfilled the selection criteria. “Therefore, some of them have been selected for posting at boys’ schools.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2014.