Educators to mark teacher’s day sans pay
Hundreds of daily-wage teaching and non-teaching staff in the federal capital are preparing to observe another World Teacher’s Day.
The day is annually observed on October 5 (today) across the world.
Usually, the teacher’s day is a source of joy, but the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and lack of payment for the past four months and tenure for even longer, has turned the mood in the federal capital sour.
In a statement of support, the Young Teachers Association in a statement on Sunday said that during the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic, daily wage teaching and non-teaching staff continue to perform their duties even as teachers continue to conduct online classes.
“While in opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders gave false consolations, but when they came to power, they completely ignored the daily-wage employees,” it said.
The statement added that families of daily-wage teachers and non-teaching staff are on the verge of starvation and require urgent assistance.
Further, it noted that in 2018, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the federal education ministry to ensure payment of salaries to these staffers in addition to regularising them, but these orders have yet to be fully implemented.
The Young Teachers Association has demanded that salaries be paid immediately and that steps should be taken to expedite cases filed with the Federal Public Service Commission.
The Ministry of Education is sitting idle after sending cases to the cabinet for regularisation of employees from basic pay scale (BPS) grades one to 15, and despite a court order from June 2018 to regularise daily-wage employees within 90 days, it said.
Separately, Malik Amir, the president of the Federal Government Teachers Association (FGTA), has said that the federal government needs to take urgent measures to resolve problems of teachers. He added that lofty dreams of development cannot be achieved without first resolving basic problems of teachers.
In a statement issued on World Teachers' Day, Amir said that the government - which has termed education their top priority - failed to organise any event to celebrate the day for teachers.
He further said that teachers have an important role to play in correcting the course of a society in moral decay. However, the incumbent government has completely ignored teachers. Even under the dictatorships, the International Teachers' Day has been celebrated officially, he said, adding that it is unfortunate that in the current democratic era, a day for honouring teachers has been forgotten by the government.
Amir further said that the government must address the critical shortage of teachers in educational institutions immediately. Further, teachers and non-teaching staff working on daily-wages in schools for extended periods should be regularised immediately. All cases of permanent appointments and time-scale promotions should be resolved at the earliest. He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood to immediately announce a special package to solve the problems of teachers immediately so that they can turn all their attention towards their students.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2020.