Teachers Day to be marked as black day

Islamabad : The daily-wage teachers of Islamabad’s government educational institutions have announced that they will mark the October 5 World Teachers’ Day (Salam Teachers Day) as black day to protest their exploitation by the authorities for around a decade.

Ihsan Sikandari of the Young Teachers Association, which represents these daily-wagers, said teaching was the most influential job in the world.

“Teachers are known to shape the mind of youths and without knowledge, no one can exist in this world. Teachers impart good values to children and thus, helping them become responsible citizens, so almost every country celebrates the Teachers’ Day.

“There is a huge role of teachers in nation building and for that sake teachers should be respected more.”

He however regretted that almost 700 daily-wage teachers serving in Islamabad’s government schools and colleges for eight to 10 years had been exploited.

“Though we have got the workload just like permanent teachers, we’re badly exploited when it comes to payment of salary,” he said.

The YTA leader said mostly salary of daily-wage teacher was Rs10,000 as we are not paid any penny during summer and winter vacation and on the other hand, average monthly salary of permanent teacher totalled Rs65,000 a month.

“Even this meagre amount is paid to us after a delay of six to seven months and that, too, only after we take to the streets,” he said.

Ihsan Sikandari said despite having court orders, the daily-wage teachers were denied service regularisation by the relevant authorities.

He insisted that in some colleges, daily-wage teachers were forced to teach subjects not related to them.

“In most cases, we are denied leaves and other basic rights. Ironically, all this is happening in federal capital and not some far-flung area,” he said.

The YTA leader said the daily-wage teachers had decided to protest their exploitation by marking the October 5 World Teachers’ Day (Salam Teachers Day) as black day.