Resolute: A week on, protesting teachers stand their ground
They rejected the SED’s notification on working conditions saying it doesn’t address their issues.
A file photo of teachers protesting. PHOTOS: PPI/MUHAMMAD JAVAID
LAHORE:
Teachers associated with the Muttahida Mahaaz Assatiza (MMA) have been protesting on The Mall for a week demanding that the government take notice of the plight of the teachers’ community and stop issuing false indicators of the status of education in the province.
The protest began last Friday on The Mall. The number of teachers at the sit-in has dwindled throughout the week.
“We are not discouraged by the protesters abandoning the sit-in,” MMA chairman Tariq Mehmood said. He said that the teachers were determined to fight for their cause and get their demands accepted.
Mehmood said the education indicators fielded by the government were a bunch of lies. “Teachers are forced to submit false reports that have nothing to do with reality.”
Mehmood said the government had promised to regularise thousands of teachers hired on contracts a year and a half ago. “The government has failed to honour its commitment to us and has forced us to take to the streets.”
He slammed union leaders who had issued statements against them. “They are backed by the government and are the real enemies of teachers.”
He denounced the notification issued by the School Education Department on May 6 which claimed that the department officials had met teachers’ unions and agreed on 16 points. Mehmood said around 1,300 headmasters’ posts were vacant and thousands of teachers were waiting to be promoted even though the chief minister had issued a notification in this regard.
Mehmood said that the SED had not addressed even half of the issues and problems the teachers had raised and brushed them under the carpet by calling for “committees” to “look into the matter”. Mehmood said, “The real issues remain unresolved.”
The Punjab Teachers’ Union, however, said MMA’s protest aimed to sabotage the agreement they had reached with the government.
PTU secretary general Rana Liaquat Ali said the popularity of the protest could be gauged by the number of teachers left at the protest. “Most of the teachers know better than to join these people.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2015.
Teachers associated with the Muttahida Mahaaz Assatiza (MMA) have been protesting on The Mall for a week demanding that the government take notice of the plight of the teachers’ community and stop issuing false indicators of the status of education in the province.
The protest began last Friday on The Mall. The number of teachers at the sit-in has dwindled throughout the week.
“We are not discouraged by the protesters abandoning the sit-in,” MMA chairman Tariq Mehmood said. He said that the teachers were determined to fight for their cause and get their demands accepted.
Mehmood said the education indicators fielded by the government were a bunch of lies. “Teachers are forced to submit false reports that have nothing to do with reality.”
Mehmood said the government had promised to regularise thousands of teachers hired on contracts a year and a half ago. “The government has failed to honour its commitment to us and has forced us to take to the streets.”
He slammed union leaders who had issued statements against them. “They are backed by the government and are the real enemies of teachers.”
He denounced the notification issued by the School Education Department on May 6 which claimed that the department officials had met teachers’ unions and agreed on 16 points. Mehmood said around 1,300 headmasters’ posts were vacant and thousands of teachers were waiting to be promoted even though the chief minister had issued a notification in this regard.
Mehmood said that the SED had not addressed even half of the issues and problems the teachers had raised and brushed them under the carpet by calling for “committees” to “look into the matter”. Mehmood said, “The real issues remain unresolved.”
The Punjab Teachers’ Union, however, said MMA’s protest aimed to sabotage the agreement they had reached with the government.
PTU secretary general Rana Liaquat Ali said the popularity of the protest could be gauged by the number of teachers left at the protest. “Most of the teachers know better than to join these people.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2015.