Black armbands: Capital’s teachers dismayed over lack of reforms

Teachers said that they would consult with the non-teaching staff associated with staff at educational institutions

ISLAMABAD: A day after the prime minister distributed buses, teachers at all the 12 model colleges (Ex-FG) in the capital wore black arm-bands on Thursday to lodge their protest over what they felt was being largely ignored by the premier.

On January 11, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif distributed 30 buses among the capital’s schools and colleges in a distribution ceremony.

While teachers commended the addition of the new buses, they were disappointed that no reform package had been announced for them.

“There was a wave of disappointment and frustration among teachers because felt they had been ignored,” said Professor Sagheer Ahmed Mirani, president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA).

Prof Mirani added that both, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, had introduced a speedy promotion formula for teachers in 2012 but the federal education department was still following the old, slow-paced, promotion structure.

Moreover, he pointed out that employees of other departments in the federal capital had been granted various types of incentives, such as the 300 per cent judicial allowance for Supreme Court employees, while employees working at the presidency, FBR, PIMS, police were also getting 100 per cent more pay. Employees of AGPR and the federal ombudsman, meanwhile, were getting 20 per cent more pay than ordinary employees, he explained.

“But teachers are not getting any type of incentive. [This] disparity in the pay structure of the government servants is the root cause of unrest among teachers.”

Professor Habibullah, the general secretary of FGCTA said, “In 2013, the government granted 20 per cent special allowance to employees of ministries of divisions, but the education department was ignored.”

“This time [distribution of buses] teachers were expecting that the premier would pay attention to the ‘builders of the nation’ but unfortunately once again they were ignored,” Prof Habibullah said, adding,  “They (teachers) think that they are usually not treated the way other civil servants are and favored this situation has, unfortunately, demoralised the teachers”.

He further said that reforms in the education sector could only be accomplished when teachers are provided a conducive work environment.

The teachers said that they would consult with the non-teaching staff and other associations associated with staff at educational institutions before deciding on a joint protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2017.