Teachers boycott classes from today

Say protest will continue until govt reverses decision about educational institutions

ISLAMABAD:

As the deadlock between teachers and the government continue to persist after the latter handed over the administrative control of educational institutions to the Islamabad mayor, teaching and non-teaching staff of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have announced to boycott classes from Monday (today).

Earlier, talks between the FDE Joint Action Committee and the government failed to yield results despite protests by the teaching and non-teaching staff outside the Parliament House.

The FDE Joint Action Committee has requested parents not to send their children to educational institutions for the sake of their security and to keep them at home.

The federal government earlier issued an ordinance, putting all schools and federal colleges under the administrative control of the Islamabad mayor. The teaching and non-teaching staff have vociferously opposed the move.

The FDE Joint Action Committee said that heads, teachers and staff of all the educational institutions will participate in a meeting scheduled to be held today to formulate the next course of action.

An emergency meeting of the FDE Joint Action Committee was held Sunday under the chairmanship of Fazal Maula, in which it was unanimously decided that a general body comprised of all sector’s heads, staff secretaries and coordinators will be held in Islamabad Model College, G-7 on January 10, at 10 am.

The general body meeting will be attended by all the heads along with the staff secretaries, while the focal persons and all the coordinators (teachers, non-teaching and administrative staff) of all the education sectors will attend the meeting.

The next course of action will be decided in the general body meeting after mutual consultation.

The third round of talks between the government and the action committee is also expected soon. However, there have been two sessions of talks with Ali Nawaz Awan, Advisor to the Prime Minister, in which the repeal of Article 166 of the Local Government Ordinance was discussed.

According to sources, Ali Nawaz Awan has clearly stated that Article 166 cannot be repealed. However, there is an option to amend it.

The FDE Joint Action Committee has convened the meeting seeking to amend article 166 of the local Islamabad government ordinance, under which educational institutions have been put under the Islamabad mayor.

Parents demand to open schools

On the other hand, a large number of parents in the capital have demanded of the authorities concerned to open schools to save the students’ academic loss, keeping in view the disrupted academic routine during the last two years.

Ashraf Ali, a father of three daughters, said, “My children have already faced school closures as a result of the Covid-19 and suffered huge academic losses”. “I request the FDE staff and authorities to come on the table to resolve the issue instead of boycotting the classes as it will only affect the student’s performance and grades in the long run,” he said.

Muhammad Arshad whose daughter is a student of class-V at a school in Sector G-9 said: “My daughter has already faced a lot of learning loss last year as schools were operated with a 50 per cent attendance policy on alternating days due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Additional input from APP

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10, 2022.