College teachers threaten strike if promotion policy not implemented by 12th

PESHAWAR: Teachers of government colleges and commerce colleges of the province have set March 12 as deadline for the implementation of the five-tier policy for promotions of the college teachers otherwise they would launch a province-wide strike.

The decision was made at the meeting of the two associations, which was jointly chaired by the presidents of the bodies Abdul Hameed Afridi and Syed Imtiaz Ali Shah.

The meeting was also attended by the general secretaries of the two associations, Qazi Zafar Iqbal and Waheed Khattak, besides others.

The participants said the government had taken the decision several months ago and it was properly notified by the Higher Education Department. However, it could not be implemented so far, causing severe dismay and unrest among the teaching fraternity at the government-run colleges and commerce institutions in the province.

They also said that they had already been deprived of the one-step promotion announced by a former prime minister more than one decade ago. The promotion could be given to the university teachers only.

Now that the government, after thorough deliberations, worked out a promotion formula for the college teachers, formal approval was accorded to it by the provincial cabinet and a notification was issued by the department concerned, delaying tactics are being adopted at the implementation stage of the policy.

They demanded the government to take immediate notice of the situation and implement the promotion policy at the earliest otherwise they would be left with no choice but to stage protests and boycott academic activities at the public sector colleges and commerce institutions.