Pakistan: Protest by teachers leaves thousands of students without education

22
Pakistan: Protest by teachers leaves thousands of students without education

Peshawar, Nov 5 (IANS) More than 22,000 students across primary schools in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have no option but to sit at home as the province’s All-Primary Teachers Association (APTA) are holding a major sit-in protest at Peshawar’s Jinnah Park to press for their demands.

APTA Provincial President Azizullah has said that the protest will continue until the KP Education Minister issues an official notification for teachers’ upgradation.

On the other hand, the KP Education Department has taken the forced closure of schools as a challenge to the provincial government’s authority, warning to take strong action against APTA and the thousands of teachers involved in the protest.

Azizullah, meanwhile, continues to mobilise support, insisting that the government plans to launch a crackdown on the protest.

“Our phones are off and we are all keeping a low profile. Schools will only reopen once the government issues an official upgradation notification for teachers, as there will be no compromise on this demand. Teaches are united; they have made sacrifices in the past and are prepared to face any difficulty to secure their rights,” he said.

APTA had warned last month that it would shut down all 26,000 primary boys and girls schools from November 5 and would not reopen them until their demands are met.

“The sit-in would mark a historic event, as it is being held to demand the notification of upgradation, and regularization of 13,500 teachers, the restoration of forced promotions, and the revival of the fargo option”, remarked Azizullah.

Along with the demand of regularization of teachers, the teachers’ protest also opposes the privatization of primary schools. APTA is demanding creation of senior primary school teacher posts with position codes in merged districts of KP, class-wise teacher appointments at every primary school and teacher regularization under the 2022 Act and its inclusion into the General Provident (GP) Fund.

APTA says that even though it remains open to positive negotiations, no flexibility would be shown in their demands and the primary education system of KP province will remain completely shut.

The protest by the teachers is fast becoming a major challenge for the KP government as thousands of primary teachers, including men and women, take to the streets and force the education system of the province to shut down completely for an indefinite period of time.

–IANS

hamza/as

Go to Source

Disclaimer

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.

Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.

If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.