School educators' hopes for regularisation dashed

Punjab government has decided to extend the contracts of around 14,000 educators serving in public sector schools instead of regularising their service.

According to sources, the teachers had been recruited around 10 years ago across the province.

A large number of them have crossed the age of eligibility for apply in any other government service.

The Punjab Teaches Union (PTU) has planned protests against the decision not to regularise their service.

The majority of the affected teachers are women recruited in the last tenure of Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif as the Punjab CM. The recruitment were done the last time in 2018.

A protest for the regularization was also organised by the educators during PTI's rule in front of Zaman Park and the CM House.

Several meetings were also held to settle the issue and a proposal to regularise the service through the Punjab Public Service Commission was also considered.

The caretaker government also formed a committee last year to address the matter.

Teachers' unions wrote a letter to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz last year for informing her about the issue.

A female teacher said a majority of the educators were not eligible to apply for any other government job. Our last hope was with this government as the issue had been brought to the knowledge of the CM.

She said most of the educators had been recruited in remote districts.

Punjab Teachers Union Secretary General Rana Liaqat Ali said the education ministry had earlier indicated willingness for the regularisation.

He said regularisation was the right of the educators.