Pressing demands: Schoolteachers to launch protest drive from 17th

All Asataza Alliance Punjab accuse govt of privatising schools

LAHORE: A teachers’ union has announced that they will stage protest demonstrations, boycott examinations and shut down schools across the province if the government does not stop “privatisation” of schools.

“Teachers have been protesting against the privatisation of government schools. They have taken to the streets in the past and will do so again if their demands are not met,” All Asataza Alliance Punjab (AAAP) president Ramazan Inqalabi told The Express Tribune on Monday.

“This time we will boycott examinations, shut down schools and stage protest demonstrations. Every time we stage a demonstration, we are assured that our demands will be met but nothing is done in this regard,” Inqalabi said.

He accused the government of handing over schools to the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and the Daanish School System, thereby “ending” the public school infrastructure. He claimed that government schools were performing better than those being run privately or by the PEF. “Education board results show that government schools outperform PEF partners and Daanish schools.”

Inqalabi said the alliance would hold a demonstration in Jhang on September 17. Demonstrations would also be held in other districts, he said. He said the teachers would shut down schools and boycott conduct of examinations if the government did not stop privatisation by October 1.

He said All Asataza Alliance Punjab had also taken onboard other teachers’ organisations, including the United Teachers’ Council (UTC). They, too, would take part in the protest movement, Inqalabi said.

Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU) general secretary Liaquat Ali said his collective was against shutting down schools. However, he said, he sympathised with the protesting teachers. He said the PTU would remain neutral on the matter. “We will neither oppose nor support their actions.”

During summer vacations, groups of schoolteachers had staged several demonstrations.

They had called off these after officials from the School Education Department (SED) and School Education Minister Rana Mashhood assured them that their grievances would be addressed. In June, All Asataza Alliance Punjab office-bearers had staged a three-day sit-in in front of the Provincial Assembly demanding that the government stop handing over public schools to the PEF partners and NGOs; make sure that teachers were not harassed by district education authorities; and upgrade teachers’ pay scales.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2016.