Irate teachers hit the street against govt

Threaten to besiege Punjab Assembly if demands not met


Our Correspondent August 25, 2017
PHOTO: INP

LAHORE: Public schoolteachers of the province came in full force against the poor policies of the provincial government and staged a protest outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Thursday.

They threatened to besiege the Punjab Assembly if their demands were not met. The schoolteachers demanded of the provincial government to upgrade their basic pay and give primary school teachers a basic pay scale of 14, elementary schoolteachers a scale of 16 and secondary schoolteachers a scale of grade 17.

Teachers protest outside Sindh Assembly on budget day

They also demanded that those who were already in grades 14, 16 and 17 should get two additional promotions along with other benefits. Other demands of the teachers included halting the handover of public schools to NGOs through the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and stopping disciplinary action against the teachers.

In this regard, Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU) staged a protest outside the LPC. The protesters were holding banners and shouted slogans in favour of their demands.

While speaking to the protesters, PTU Central President Chaudhry Sarfaraz demanded of the provincial chief minister, education minister and school education department secretary to take immediate steps to mitigate the problems being faced by the teachers’ community.

He added the teachers were being exploited by the government through ‘experimentation’ with the sector. Sarfaraz maintained school funds were not available and at the same time, the government demanded 100% attendance.

He claimed the same standards were not enforced on outsourced schools, where attendance was recorded at 70%.  He claimed that handing over public schools to NGOs and the private sector would destroy the education setup.

While speaking about the demands of the teachers, he pointed out that the government had yet to upgrade the basic pay scale of the teachers as it had promised several times before. He also claimed the in-service promotion of the teachers was also being delayed on purpose. He called these delays a conspiracy against the public education system of the province.

Teachers protest hits K-P school enrolment drive 

Chaudhry Sarfaraz also criticised the recent administrative changes made to the education administrative system in the province. He said that District Education Authorities (DEAs) would prove to be detrimental to the education system along with the new terms of reference for the appointment of CEOs at the DEAs. He warned that if their demands were not met, the schoolteachers would besiege the Punjab Assembly and will hold a sit-in on September 16.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2017.

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