School head terminated over child labour issue

MULTAN: The Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department (LNFBED) Monday terminated a headmistress of a school on charges of her involvement in child labour at the school.

According to education officials, the LNFBED took the action against Zubaida Kousar, the headmistress of Hamidpur Kanora non-formal school, over engaging minor students studying at the school in forced construction labour. Reportedly, the parents and relatives of the students had protested against the headmistress for forcing their kids to work as labourers under her husband command to construct their house. The LNFBED Multan District Education Officer Amir Razaq told The News that the department had terminated the headmistress and appointed a new one.

When asked about any action against her husband, he said the department took action against the headmistress because she was engaged with the department and her husband was beyond the jurisdiction of the department.

He said there was no room for any type of violence at any non-formal school due to strict laws and the department could not allow any staffer to violate basic rules. He said he conducted an in-depth probe into the incident, then analysed video contents that went viral on social media and then found the headmistress guilty of child labour in the school. Earlier, when the event went viral on social media, journalists approached the area where parents and villagers staged a protest against the school administration. Meanwhile, Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) spokesperson Ehsan clarified that the school was not affiliated with the PEF and the foundation had no link with it.

He said PEF had zero tolerance policy about child labour and corporal punishment at its partner schools, saying that the PEF was misreported in news reports. When contacted, Multan CPO Munir Masud Marth was not available for comments.

Growers advised to weed cotton fields on time to get bumper production: Central Cotton Research Multan Director Dr Zahid Mehmood Monday advised cotton growers to eradicate weeds from fields on time to get good yield. Addressing the cotton growers during a function, Dr Zahid said herbs in fields directly or indirectly damage the cotton crop up to 20 to 30 per cent in terms of production. He said weeding was very important and within 25 to 45 days of sowing cotton, the farmers should plow the field once or twice or plow with the help of a tractor to remove weeds effectively. He elaborated the farmers should conduct land levelling and continue it as long as there is no risk of damage to the crop from levelling land.