Colleges shut as lecturers join protest

Govt machinery, educational institutes to remain at standstill

RAWALPINDI:

The ongoing standoff between government employees, spearheaded by teachers and clerks, continues to increase in intensity with a collective of lecturers and professors of government schools the latest to join the protests. As a result, intermediate, graduate, and post-graduate colleges in the six districts of Rawalpindi Division were unable to hold classes.

The lecturers and professors announced a complete strike that would see classrooms stay locked and educational activities suspended starting Saturday. The strike would be observed in the six districts of the division including Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal and Talagang. The organisers said employees of ‘all 32 government institutions’ in the Rawalpindi division had joined the protest by going on a complete strike.

The announcement comes a day after a crackdown on protestors of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) and All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) that resulted in the arrest of over 200 protestors.

Read more: Protest forces closure of public schools across Pindi

The ongoing protests have disrupted educational activities across the province as government employees press their three main demands—the privatization of public schools, the modification of the leave encashment regulations, and the modification of the pension rules.

Government schools were already either shut or not functional due to the strike by teachers. On Friday, colleges in the division closed their doors early as well.

They protesters say the lockout, sit-ins, and demonstrations will continue until their demands are met. They have also called for the release of its leaders and activists who were arrested over a sit-in outside the Civil Secretariat in Lahore.

The demonstrators took potshots at the coalition of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) over its ‘tacit support’ to the privatization of public schools and the abolition of pensions while warning the caretaker government to avoid taking ‘permanent decisions’. The protesters noted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) were supporting their demands.

A total of 34 organisations representing employees from various Punjab government departments were said to be part of the protest. These included officials from the education, health and finance departments, from the offices of the commissioners, deputy commissions and assistant commissioners. It included employees of the Rawalpindi Development Authority, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), and the municipal corporation. Employees from other government departments including social welfare, forestry, and agriculture were also on strike and boycotted work.

The protesters also took out a rally outside the Rawalpindi secretariat of the education department.

Professor Ansir Nasir, an office bearer in the professors’ collective, said that the protesters had been making the same demands for some time but the government wasn’t interested in addressing their concerns.

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Fida Hussain Shah, who represented the collective of clerks, said the caretaker setup’s responsibility was fair elections. “It is making policy decisions such as selling public schools and cutting pensions,” he said while asserting that no schools would be allowed to be sold.

The Punjab School Education Department has released a list of 11,048 public schools slated for privatisation, including 1,134 schools in the Rawalpindi division. This includes all their assets including buildings, playgrounds, and laboratories.

“Under Article 25A of the Constitution, the government is required to provide education,” noted Chaudhry Sagheer Alam, an educationist and protester. He said that children from low-income families cannot afford the monthly cost of Rs20. “How will they pay the fees of Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 after privatization?”

Another speaker said that the reason behind selling public schools was to keep education out of the reach of middle-class children.

“We won't let this disaster happen. From Saturday, all public schools and universities in the division will remain closed,” said Professor Nasir. The speakers said that government offices would also stay shut.

The protesters have planned sit-ins outside the offices of the commissioner and deputy commissioner while issuing a call to supporters to converge in Lahore as well.

Meanwhile, those leading the protests have also urged striking government employees from across Punjab to arrive in Lahore for the sit-in.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2023.