Committees to review demands of teachers

The education ministry on Sunday formed four special committees to prepare recommendations on the five demands of teachers in Punjab have started working on Sunday.

These committees would prepare suggestions on the demands of the educators before the end of the first quarter of the current month.

These demands include pay and service protection, regularisation from the date of recruitment, preparation of the draft of necessary amendments in All Cadres Services Rules, giving basic pay scale (BPS) 16 to primary and elementary teachers and BPS 17 to Secondary School Teachers (SSTs).

The members of the committees include government officials concerned and representatives of teachers’ organisations.

The senior members of the committees and representatives of teachers’ organisations including Rana Liaquat Ali, Kashif Shehzad told The Express Tribune all teachers have become part of the committees with open hearts and minds.

They hoped that the committees would produce fruitful results while the strain between the education ministry and educators would end permanently.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the teachers’ organisations have suggested splitting the educators into two cadres. As per the suggestion, the Primary School Teachers (PSTs) and Elementary School Teachers (ESTs) should be merged into one cadre and given BPS 16. Whereas, the Secondary School Teachers (SSTs) should be put in a separate cadre and given BPS 17.

Meanwhile, the government has in principle approved awarding principal allowance to heads of all schools across Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2021.