College teachers protest outside Punjab Civil Secretariat

PPLA vows to continue protest until demands are met

LAHORE: College professors vowed to continue their protest, saying that they will not budge an inch from their camps set up outside Punjab Civil Secretariat until negotiations with the Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED) bear fruit, on Wednesday.

The teachers, under the umbrella of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA), marched from MAO College to the civil secretariat.  The protesters raised slogans against the policies of PHED and demanded that that recent legislation adopted by the department be reversed.

The teachers had demanded that HED notify the protesters of those demanded that would be enforced immediately.

But we have yet to receive any word from officials, said PPLA spokesperson Hasan Rasheed.

We will continue the protest until our demands are met, he added.



PPLA demanded that college teachers be upgraded one-step, be given pay protection and be afforded professional allowances. Further, they asked for the implementation of timescale promotions, the devolution of powers, the restoration of MPhil and PhD allowances and an end on the ban for study leaves for teachers.

House requisition should be given Punjab teachers, similar to that given by the federal government. They also demanded that academics be appointed to chairmen posts instead of commissioners. Moreover, the recently adopted rationalization policy of the government should immediately cease, they said.

Negotiations were held between the teachers and government officials; however, they were unable to convince the protesters to end the sit in.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU), the representative body of schoolteachers, has announced that they will join the protesting college teachers from Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2018.