Temping teachers on streets demanding regularisation

Islamabad: As announced, the daily-wage employees of Islamabad's schools and colleges, both from model and federal government setups, on Tuesday went on strike by boycotting duty and took to the streets in a bid to pressurise the government for regularisation of their service.

Vowing to continue with the strike, they insisted that they’d been working at the public sector educational institutions for many years but the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) was trying to recruit new staff instead of giving them permanent jobs.

The daily wagers also complained about non-payment of salary since May. The FDE oversees government schools and colleges in the Islamabad Capital Territory. The issue came under discussion at various parliamentary forums in the recent years, which issued orders for service regularisation to the government but it remained unresolved.

Even the daily wagers moved the court of law but didn't get a favourable decision. Recently, the FDE advertised teachers vacancies prompting these daily wagers to protest. On Tuesday, the daily wagers gathered outside the National Press Club to protest against the FDE and the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), which oversees the directorate.

Holding placards and shouting slogans, they demanded the immediate release of salary and regularisation of services. YTA leader Ihsan Sikandari said the daily-wage staff members of the FDE schools and colleges would continue the boycott of duty until they were granted the due right to permanent employment.

He said the planned recruitment was part of the PML-N government’s plan to offer jobs to voters in the Islamabad Capital Territory to ensure victory in upcoming general elections. The YTA leader said he feared more such recruitment would be carried out ahead of the polls, which were few months away.

He said the FDE daily-wage teachers won’t allow such tactics to succeed and would go to every extent to claim the due right to permanent jobs after being in service for so many years. Ihsan said opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah would meet daily wagers today (Wednesday) to express solidarity with them on their struggle for service regularisation.

Amid protest, a relevant FDE official insisted that the directorate and CADD had formally taken up the daily wagers salary issue with the finance division and were hopeful about its early resolution. He also said the regularisation of the protesters' services wasn't possible in line with the court's verdict but they would get a good chance of employment during action on the advertised posts.