FDE teachers call off 10-day strike

Joint Action Committee says all educational institutions will reopen from today

ISLAMABAD:

The teaching and non-teaching staff of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on Wednesday announced to call off their strike after 10 days and announced to resume educational activities from Thursday (today).

The announcement came after the FDE Joint Action Committee held a plethora of talks with Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood and senior officials of the education ministry.

FDE Joint Action Committee spokesperson Zia Khan Yousufzai confirmed that the strike has been called off. He said the government has sought time to meet their demands.

He expressed his satisfaction over the official memo regarding giving control of 33 model colleges back to the FDE

The spokesperson said the JAC will continue to exist and would review the government’s decision.

Earlier, FDE Joint Action Committee members met with the education minister and senior officials of the ministry to discuss the possible implications of the Islamabad Local Government Ordinance 2021 on the cadre and service structure of the teaching and non-teaching staff after the FDE was put under the administrative control of the Islamabad mayor.

The JAC had demanded the reversal of the relevant section of the ordinance, under which the FDE and all educational institutions have been placed under the administrative control of the Islamabad mayor.

It had also demanded to reverse the decision of putting 33 model colleges under the administrative control of the Federal College of Education (FCE).

Earlier, the education minister had assured the FDE JAC that the government was fully aware of their concerns and will ensure that all matters related to the service structure of the employees were dealt with under the Civil Servants Act 1973.

The FDE JAC was assured that section 166 of the ordinance would be amended and the ministry had agreed to revoke the notification under which 33 model colleges were detached from FDE and put under the FCE.

The FDE JAC members said that time of the students was crucial while they would resume educational activities without backing from their principal stance of repealing section 166 of the Local Government Ordinance 2021.

The FDE JAC said that it would keep raising the issue at every forum without causing any harm to the education of the students of Islamabad which was hailed by the ministry officials.

The FED teaching and non-teaching staff had been on the strike for the last 10 days after the federal government, through an ordinance, placed the administrative control of all educational institutions under the Islamabad mayor.

Earlier, the Senate Standing Committee on Education formed a committee to revisit and evaluate the decision of putting the FDE under the administrative control of the Islamabad mayor.

The committee, headed by Ministry of Education and Vocational Training Parliamentary Secretary Wajiha Qamar, had been tasked to come up with a detailed report within 15 days after a thorough assessment of the federal government’s decision and taking input of all stakeholders including teachers. The Senate committee had also urged teachers to start a dialogue with the education ministry and call off their protest strike.

The FDE JAC will also have representation in the said committee.

Earlier on Wednesday, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training had urged the protesting teachers of Islamabad to end the boycott of classes and resolve the issue through dialogue.

The meeting was chaired by Mian Najibuddin Owaisi at the HEC auditorium.

On the matter of the teachers’ protest in Islamabad, committee member Hamid Hameed had said that the protest of FDE teaching and non-teaching staff was spreading misinformation about the ordinance. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on CDA Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan said the FDE employees will remain under the ministry of education and it will continue to pay their salaries. He said that it was misconstrued that the free education and the provision of free books to the students will be done away with after placing the FDE under the control of Islamabad.

He said that the Islamabad mayor has only been given the “reporting line”.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2021.