A large number of teachers and administrative employees of Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) staged a protest outside the Parliament House on Monday against the government’s decision to close the program from July 1. The members of BECS said that the decision will affect over 600,000 students and leave over 15,000 teachers and administrative staff jobless.
The federal government and the provincial governments have not allocated any funds for the National Education Foundation’s (NEF) BECS programme, while the provinces have also refused to adopt it. The decision has spread fear and frustration among both, employees and students.
Two months back, BECS staff members launched similar protests, but were assured by the authorities that the programme will not be closed, even after the passage of the 18th Amendment.
The BECS members are now accusing the government of cheating them by ignoring the earlier commitment. Carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans in support of regularisation of BECS schools, the protesters vowed to continue the protest till the fulfilment of their demands.
“We have been affiliated with this project for over ten years and we will not go back unless assurances are given for continuation of the project,” said a group of teachers who had come from southern Punjab. A teacher from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) said, “Despite declaring 2011 the ‘Year of Education’, the government is going to deprive around 600,000 poor students of their basic right to education,” said Ali Nawaz, a teacher from FATA.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, NEF Deputy Director Saadia Atta Ghuman said, “The 18th Amendment did not mention the closure of NEF, a decision that will deprive teachers of jobs and students of education.”
She said that BECS schools only take students who cannot afford the fee, books and other education-related expenses, which are provided free of cost in these schools. She demanded that the government regularise the BECS programme to avoid unemployment and illiteracy.
“600,000 children will probably become child labourers if the schools are closed at this stage,” said Ghuman. She added that communities are ready to provide free of cost land for the continuation of these schools as they have been running successfully for the last 15 years.
According to BECS, each community school has one teacher and there are 6,465 schools in Punjab with a total of 262,744 students; 1,764 schools in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 72,441 students; 2,195 schools in Sindh with 78,522 students. In Balochistan there are 1389 with 41,109 students enrolled, while in Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA, there are 1,576 and 1,166 schools with 56,897 and 48,572 students respectively. Azad Jammu and Kashmir has 10,214 students in 223 schools, while Islamabad has 12,129 students in 323 schools.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2011.
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