The teachers held a demonstration outside Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday. Led by Peshawar All Teachers Association (ATA) President Haji Ishraf Khan and Peoples Teacher Forum (PTF) provincial president Akhtar Ali, the demonstrators shouted slogans against the provincial government. Speaking to the protesters, PTF provincial president Akhtar Ali said it was an atrocity on teachers that the timescale promotion formula has been implemented in other government departments, but not the education department.
Ali and the members of the ATA urged the government to implement the timescale formula under which teachers working in Grade-12, after serving for 10 years would be promoted to Grade-14. At the same time, teachers in Grade-14, after serving seven years, would be promoted to Grade-16 and finally to Grade-17 after another five years in service.
Ali told the media that teachers were being treated like stepchildren by the authorities, claiming they were being deprived of the sons’ quota for vacant posts in government schools since 1997. He also demanded that the government audit the EEF as more than Rs5 billion had been added to it since 1985, but teachers were yet to benefit from the additional funds. “Since 1997, there have been no elections for teachers’ representatives and this has created more problems for the professionals,” Ali added.
The PTF president further said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) made several promises to teachers before the elections, but forgot about them once the party came into power. The provincial lawmakers are busy protesting in Islamabad, he added.
Ali added a meeting would be held on October 13 between teachers in the province to discuss their future course of action.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.
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