Teachers complain of unpaid remuneration for exam duties

Islamabad: The teachers marking answer scripts of primary and middle standard centralised exams have complained about unpaid remuneration for paper marking and examination duties as well as the rude attitude of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) officers towards them.

They told 'The News' that during the recent visit of an FDE director to a paper marking centre, the women teachers asked him about the spring vacation and a delay in the clearance of their dues for paper checking and exam duties. The teachers added that instead of giving a satisfactory reply to the queries, the director flared up, shouted at the women, and even threatened them with dire consequences if they did not complete their assignments on time.

They criticised the officer for his ‘inappropriate, unprofessional and hostile’ behavior and urged the education ministry to arrange a training programme for FDE bosses on how to deal with staff members, especially women.

A teacher said, “Low remuneration and work overload hamper teachers’ motivation to effectively and efficiently do their tasks." She regretted that she did not get her payment for even the previous year's exam duty.

"Besides teaching, we perform census duties, election duties, and invigilation and deworming duties but in return are subjected to inappropriate behaviour by the administration."

She also complained that teachers were not provided with transport for exam and paper marking duties.

"We pay taxi fares from our own pockets," she said. The teachers also complained that there was no house rent ceiling for them, while the grant of time scale had been pending for over two years. They insisted that the FDE had turned a deaf ear to their issues.