Teachers to hold token hunger strike today over unmet demands

The Government Secondary Teachers Association Sindh (GSTAS) will hold a token hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday (today) to protest against the School Education & Literacy Department (SELD) not approving the charter of demands that the association had presented to the authorities.

According to a statement issued by the GSTAS, teachers from various districts of the province are likely to participate in the protest, while several groups of demonstrators have already reached Karachi.

The association has been demanding payment of salaries of the teachers appointed during the year 2012 in all the six districts of the Karachi region.

Their charter of demands also states that contractual teachers who have qualified their tests held under the supervision of a third party should be considered permanent employees of the education department, while the contract system in the field of teaching should be abolished.

The GSTAS has also been demanding that management cadre employees be removed from their positions at public schools, while junior teachers be promoted to grade 17. They said in their statement that they will not end their protest until the government meets all their demands.

Meanwhile, the SELD on Tuesday notified a five-member committee to verify the eligibility of the teaching staff appointed in 2012. The committee is headed by the department’s additional secretary, while the other members are the school education director, the district education officer, the human resources director and the SELD general administration additional secretary.

According to the terms of reference, the committee will examine district-wise original record pertaining to the recruitment of the teachers appointed during 2012 and it will submit its report within a month to the high power committee for further action. The notification, however, does not mention who will head the latter body.