Teachers warn of sit-in on 20th

LAHORE:Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) on Friday warned of holding a sit-in on Nov 20 against, what it called, the provincial government’s anti-teacher policies.

In a press release, the leaders of PTU and Tehreek Asataza Punjab (TAP), including Sajjad Kazmi, Chaudhry Sarfraz, Rana Liaqat and others said the schoolteachers had been expressing concerns over the Local Government Ordinance 2019 but to no avail. They said teachers’ issue related to pay protection was also not being addressed while linking regularisation of teachers’ services with PPSC had further upset them. They added the government was not coming up with any clear policy over the PPSC issue, owing to which, the schoolteachers had now decided to hold a protest sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly on Nov 20.

notification: Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) has demanded of Punjab governor/chancellor of Punjab University to withdraw a notification stopping backdated appointment of PU faculty members, otherwise, teachers would launch a protest movement.

In a press statement, PUASA President Prof Mumtaz Anwar Chaudhry, Secretary Javed Sami and others said former Punjab Governor Mian Azhar in a meeting with PU teachers had agreed to the decision of the syndicate regarding backdated appointment of teachers. They explained that in February 2019, Punjab Higher Education Minister Raja Yasir Humayun on behalf of Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar while chairing the meeting of PU Senate had also endorsed backdated appointment of teachers and fulfilled all codal formalities. They said after fulfillment of all codal formalities, the notification issued by the governor was unjustified.

They said in many top universities of the world, there was practice of backdated appointment of teachers due to delay in selection process to encourage teachers. They said ASA general body meeting had also amended its constitution and established PU Teachers Foundation, which would work for the welfare of the community.

O/A level pattern exam: Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore recently conducted a Special Secondary School Certificate (Matric) examination on the pattern of assessment in international O/A level exams. According to a BISE spokesperson, 623 candidates appeared in the special examination. He said that Higher Education Department (HED) Secretary Sajid Zafar Daal appreciated the board’s administration for this effort aimed to improve local examination. He said the HED secretary also distributed certificates and prizes among high-achievers of this special exam which included Hafiza Nabeeha Tariq (first), Fizza Khaliq (second) and Fatima Raza (third).