Teachers protest against ‘privatisation’

LAHORE

Dozens of schoolteachers staging a demonstration on Monday strongly criticised the Punjab government for handing over public primary schools to NGOs through the Punjab Education Foundation.

The schoolteachers warned to continue their protest campaign unless the government withdraws its decision. The teachers’ demo outside the Lahore Press Club caused severe traffic mess on Davis Road and many other adjacent roads for quite some time.  

Punjab Teachers Union (PTU-Allah Bakhsh Qaiser) organised the demonstration which was followed by a rally towards The Mall. 

Speaking on the occasion, the PTU leaders, including Allah Bakhsh Qaiser, Ramzan Inqalabi, Taj Haider and others also criticised the government for victimising teachers who protest against the government. They termed the move ‘privatisation of education’ and said handing over of the public schools to NGOs was in fact failure of the Punjab government.  They termed the move anti-people and anti-education and said once a democratic government had nationalised private education institutions but now this democratic government was privatising public schools.