Technical training: Tevta employees protest privatisation
Employees of the Technical Education and Vocational Training Agency (Tevta) protested against privatising the body outside Peshawar Press Club on Monday.
They denounced the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s plans to sell Tevta to the private sector, stating the move would “ruin the government institution”.
Technical and vocational training instructor Shahzab Jameel, who led the demonstration, said, “Under the Tevta ordinance, the government will demolish the administrative directorate and the training institutions will be handed over to the private sector.”
There are 107 technical institutions in the province which work under Tevta. Some of these institutions are decades old and have trained thousands of students in the past. “Such plans of privatisation have been employed in Punjab and Sindh but have failed to yield any positive results there,” said Jameel.
The protesters chanted slogans against the provincial government and Tevta Chairman Noman Wazir. A protester, Azhar Ali, said, “If the agency is privatised the employees will not be promoted.”
They said they will continue their peaceful protest against the ordinance which they said is being extended to other parts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2014.