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| March 20, 2007 | Tuesday | Safar 30, 1428 |
Women teachers find monitors ‘pestering’
MUZAFFARGARH, March 19: A number of women teachers has complained about the “unbecoming” attitude of visiting officials of the District Monitoring Team. They have threatened to resign if action is not taken against “rude” officials.
The Punjab government has set up monitoring teams in each district to compile data on physical structure of schools and enrolment.
Two women teachers from the Government Girls’ Primary School, Lootaywala, on Jhang Road, alleged the monitoring team’s official was pestering them with his three or four visits to their school in a month.
They said the official was very rude and would sit in their school for two to three hours. They said in his presence they could not teach their students.
They said the official was so “active” to often visit the girl’s school, he rarely visited the Government Boys’ Primary School, Pirwala, that was just 50 metres from the girls’ school.
The headmaster of the boys’ school, Muhammad Amin, also confirmed the women teachers’ stance and said that the official stayed five to 10 minutes in the boy’s school while he would devote hours for the girl’s school.
The teachers said that they were being pressured by their families to quit the job. They said the official asked irking personal questions.
Another teacher of Government Girls’ Primary School, Jamalwala in Mahmoodkot, said that she asked one of the monitoring officials to leave the school when one of her colleague complained that the official was asking personal questions.
The teacher said that monitoring team’s job was to fill a form that was all about facilities of schools and number of students and teachers.
She said the officials posed to bossy and often insulted them in front of their students. She said that one of the officials had demanded an apology from her on the pretext that she had been absent from the school.
She said that even though her headmistress said that she had received leave application from the teacher, the monitor asked her to tender an apology.
Similar complaints were also received from Government Girls’ Middle School, Nawan Budh, Government Girls’ Primary School Jal Wala and Government Girls’ Primary School Fareedabad. The veiled teachers said that they were very disturbed because of the presence of the male officials.
When contacted, District Monitoring Team Officer Syed Naveed Alam Shah said that the visiting officials had been asked not to ask irrelevant questions from female teachers.
He said that he had received many complaints about his officials and he would take action against them. He said that he had directed his staff to enter girls’ schools after knocking at the door and complete their forms in just 10 minutes.
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