Protesting teachers call APC from across Sindh today

KARACHI: The protesting government school teachers have invited an all parties conference of Sindh at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday to discuss the problems they are facing and suggest possible solutions.

The protest sit-in of thousands of teachers continued for the eighth consecutive day on Monday as they vowed to keep fighting for their rights.

The representatives, however, did not immediately clarify as to who or which parties would be attending the APC they have called.

Shafi Muhammad, a representative of protesting teachers, said that they have two demands – regularisation of NTS teachers for groups appointed in 2014 and 2010 and promotion of primary teachers to grade 16.

He said that the authorities have promised that both the issues will be solved by January 3. “But if they fail to act on their promise, then we will move towards Bilawal House and the Red Zone,” he added. The protesters comprising groups of teachers – two groups demanding regularisation and another – the Primary Teachers Association – demanding promotions to grade 16 have been camped outside the KPC since December 25 after police baton-charged them and arrested 30 protesters that day to prevent them from moving to the Red Zone. Several political party leaders have visited them and expressed solidarity with them since then.

Earlier last week, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had approved in a cabinet meeting that a bill be passed through the provincial assembly to regularise teachers appointed through the National Testing Service in 2014.

Similarly, in a meeting held between the representatives of the protesting groups and government officials on December 29 at the commissioner’s office, it was also suggested that primary school teachers in Sindh would be promoted to grade 16. However, the government officials had said that the Sindh government would first reach out to other provinces to confirm if their primary teachers were promoted and then follow suit.