Educators protest on ‘Salaam Teachers Day’

Stage demonstrations demanding better pay and job security

RAWALPINDI:

Schoolteachers across Rawalpindi observed Salaam Teachers Day as a black day on the call of Punjab Educators Association (PEA) on Monday.

The educators wore black armbands as a sign of protest against government policies and performed their duties.

The teachers from the garrison city gathered at the Rawalpindi Press Club under PEA Central President Malik Amjad Mehmood.

Apart from this, the educators from different tehsils of the district including Gujjar Khan, Muree, Kalar Syedan, and Kahuta gathered at their respective Tehsil Headquarters and staged protests.

Speakers criticised the government in their addresses and said it was following a deceptive policy.

They stated that on the one hand, the government was celebrating October 5 as Salaam Teacher's Day while on the other it was negligent of teachers’ problems and issues. The educators have been deprived of pay and service protection for the last 11 years, the leaders noted and added that the issue of regularisation was also pending.

The speakers added that transferring teachers’ particularly females to schools at far distances from their homes and depriving them of jobs in the name of rationalisation was unjust.

Redress teachers’ problems

All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association (APPSCA) called for redressal of teachers’ problems on the occasion of Teachers' Day.

APPSCA President Malik Abrar Hussain demanded of the government to resolve financial, medical and residential issues of teachers across the countrythe government to solve the economic, accommodation, and other problems faced by the educators. Further, the official advised the teachers to remain honest and diligent in their duties amid problems.

Hussain was addressing the prize distribution ceremony at the International School of Excellence under the auspices of APPSCA on Monday. The teachers with good performance were awarded certificates in recognition of their services. The representatives of the teachers expressed that teaching was a noble profession and emphasised that the teachers should nurture students academically, ethically and morally.

However, Hussain commented that the educators would not be able to produce desired results unless their financial problems were solved. He called on the government to take steps on a war footing for arranging accommodation for educators and increase their salaries in accordance with inflation.

He said that the children of teachers must be given stipends while the educators should be given due respect and status in the society.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2020.