Schoolteachers gearing up for another protest

Government’s decision to hand over schools to Daanish system irks teachers’ union

LAHORE: Schoolteachers in Punjab are once again gearing up to hold protests in Lahore, claiming the School Education Department (SED) has turned a blind eye towards their demands.

Reacting to the news the government was going to handover 13 schools in Lahore to the Daanish School System, the Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU) has warned that if the decision was not withdrawn, the teachers would be forced to take to the streets.

If the Daanish School Authority did not stop ‘meddling’ in the affairs of public schools by April 15, the teachers would stage a sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly on April 18, a statement issued on Saturday said.



The teachers’ body said since the news started circulating, many teachers were fearful they would be transferred to far-off areas or even lose their jobs.

Handing over public schools to the Daanish system is a reckless decision that has so far not yielded any results, the statement quoted PTU leaders, including President Chaudhry Sarfaraz, Chairman Syed Sajjad Akbar Kazmi and General Secretary Rana Liaquat among others.

They said the news about 13 schools in Lahore being handed over to a private firm had created panic among teachers.

“Teachers are scared about this decision as they feel insecure and are worried about being transferred. This atmosphere of fear has also affected the performance and educational atmosphere of these schools,” the statement read.

They claimed that these schools had been performing up to the mark and the teachers there were also qualified and experienced. “There is no logic as to why the government, all of a sudden, decided to hand them over to Daanish authority,” it stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2017.