Lacking facilities: For govt teachers, no joy on global day

Schoolteachers observe black day against ‘anti-education’ policies

LAHORE: Schoolteachers of public schools across Punjab observed a ‘black day’ on World Teachers’ Day on Wednesday by wearing black armbands to work as a sign of protest against the provincial government’s ‘anti-education’ policies.

The decision to silently protest on the day was taken by United Teachers’ Council (UTC), a union of six organisations of schoolteachers.

“Teachers in the province have been protesting for their rights for the past many years,” UTC Secretary General Kashif Shahzad Chaudhry said while talking to The Express Tribune. “The government is oblivious to our plight. We have been fighting for our right and will continue to do so.”

Chaudhry added teachers were hoping the government would listen to their demands, but nothing had been done. “For this reason, we are observing the World Teachers’ Day as black day across the province.”

Unmet demands

Teachers in the province have been protesting for promotions and against handing over public schools to the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and Daanish School System. PEF and Daanish School System are private bodies that are operating schools on government lands.

The teachers fear if the government hands over the schools to private entities, the system of public schools will collapse. The teachers have also held several protests regarding this in front of the Punjab Assembly.

Affecting quality

According to a survey conducted by a non-profit Alif Ailaan, there are nearly 1.4 million teachers in Pakistan, teaching both in the public and private sectors. Of these, 650,000, or 51% of the total, are government schoolteachers.

The survey reveals 62% of the government schoolteachers have more than 16 years of teaching experience. About 51% of the government schoolteachers have a BEd degree or higher.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2016.