Teachers protest policy of conditional timescale in KP

PESHAWAR: Rejecting the conditional timescale policy, the teachers on Monday vowed to continue the protest till the government accepted their demand of inclusion of timescale with existing service structure.

The teachers gathered outside the KP Assembly and staged the protest. They said their demand, performance based timescale for all cadres with existing service structure and revised four-tier formula, had been previously approved by the Education Department. The protesters said the school-based policy was not part of the agreement that had been reached between the teachers and Education Department.

Muhammad Nisar, former Tanzim-e-Isatiza district Charsadda president, said the government had agreed to their demands in the act. However, he said, the final draft was completely different from the one that was mutually drafted by the both parties. He said teachers' representatives had held meetings with members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to inform them of the reservation of the teachers. The representative said the teachers had told the government functionaries that the Awami National Party-led previous government service structure was the best policy for the promotion of education. He added that the timescale should have been included in ANP's policy. He said every day teachers of two districts would stage protest outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Senior Subject Specialist Salar Islam Tariq said teachers had been made responsible for 85 percent attendance of students while the teachers were required to ensure 90 percent attendance.

"Most of the students were from poor economic background who could not attend schools regularly and teachers cannot play any role in their attendance," he remarked. He alleged that the government had been planning privatization of the education gradually. "Adam Smith International has hijacked the education policy of the government," he alleged.

Salar Islam Tariq added the incumbent government was bent on implementing western policies. He said the government should have assessed the teachers and improved their capacity if they had any problems, adding that implementing an 'imported policy' that had no relevance to local culture and mindset.