Teachers demonstrate in favour of demands

PESHAWAR: Teachers of state-run schools staged a demonstration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday, demanding promotions and other facilities.

In the provincial capital, the protesting teachers gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club.

The teacher’s association provincial president, Azizullah Khan, led the protesters, who were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands.

They said that price-hikes had already affected people from every walk of life, but on the other hand the government reduced their pensions, thus creating more problems for them.

Terming it an injustice, they said they were striving for the promotions from grade-15 to 16 and 17 for the last three years but the government remained indifferent towards them.

They said they wanted to maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the educational institutions but they would launch a campaign if their demands were not accepted.

In Mardan, hundreds of primary schoolteachers of the district staged protest outside Mardan Press Club in favor of their demands.

All Primary Teacher Association (Apta) provincial senior vice president Khalid Kamal, district president Zawar Khan, general secretary Bakhtzada, Education Council chairman Hafiz Zubair Ahmed, president Usman Sanghar, general secretary Fazl Hussain, SST provincial general secretary Farhad Takkar, Wahdat Teachers Association president Hafiz Inam and others led the protest rally while primary schoolteachers in large numbers attended it.

Speakers on the occasion said that they rejected deduction in monthly

pensions, and also demanded the government to immediately issue a notification to regularise the ad hoc teachers.

They said the current inflation has badly affected the government employees on the one hand, while on the other, the government wanted to cut the monthly pensions of the employees.

They also demanded promotions of the primary teachers to basic scale-15 and headmasters to scale-16 and 17. Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Anwar Hussain adds from Shangla: All Primary Teachers Association (Apta) held a protest rally in favor of their demands on Friday. The protesters were demanding the government to approve their four demands immediately. They were holding placards and shouting slogans against the government’s injustices towards the teachers. The protestors demanded that basic scale 15 should be given to primary teachers on BA, BSc, scale 16 and 17 should be given to head teachers, proposed pension reforms should be taken back and all teachers should be given dearness allowance.

Provincial vice president Apta Muhammad Alam, deputy general secretary Mujibur Rahman, general secretary Sanaullah, presidents of teachers association Sajjad Ali, Haji Nawab, president of Class Four Association Fazal Hadi, Waheed Akhtar SST and others spoke on the occasion. On the other hand, various teachers’ organisations also announced their support in favour of Apta and demanded the government to resolve their issues immediately. The parents also asked the government to approve the legitimate demands of the teachers.