May 26, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 09, 1428

SARGODHA, May 25: Teachers striking for acceptance of their demands disrupted the class-five examination on Friday in several districts of the Punjab. The examination is being conducted by the Examination Commission of Punjab. Teachers locked examination centres, tore material and manhandled invigilators violating their strike call. At certain places in Vehari, police invigilated the examination. Police arrested dozens of teachers.

In Sargodha, four dozen teachers were arrested for instigating the teachers to boycott the classes as well as the class five examinations.

All the teachers deployed as invigilators boycotted the examination across the district.

Education Executive District Officer (EDO) Malik Muhammad Yousaf said the examination would be held as per schedule and students not sitting in the examination would fail. Police have been deployed outside all examination centres where clerks of the department would invigilate the process. Teachers pledged to continue their move till the acceptance of their demands.

Syed Nasir Abbas Sherazi, Punjab SES Teachers Association of Shahpur president, said teachers boycotted the examinations. He said clerical staff would not be able to conduct the examination because question papers and answer sheets were with teachers. Various teachers made announcement through mosque amplifiers that parents should not send their children to examination centres.

GUJRANWALA: Thirty-one teachers were arrested and of 272 examination centres, exams could not be conducted in 41 as strikers did not let invigilators in there.

Police baton charged the teachers and arrested Muttahida Mahaz-i-Asataza Vice Chairman Ziaul Mustafa Suleharia and others. Question papers and answer sheets could not be supplied to 27 centres while teachers snatched papers from students and invigilators from private schools at 14 centres.

Education EDO Raja Khadim Husain warned that teachers creating hindrance in the examination would be sacked after an inquiry and cases would be registered against them.

LAYYAH: Striking teachers reigned at examination centres for boys while the Education Department persuaded women teachers, clerks and grade four staff to invigilate the examination at certain girl centres. The examination started two hours late amid heavy contingent of police. At centres for boy candidates, thousands remained stranded at examination centres and most of them returned without taking he paper.

Nabeela Khan, a mother of 10-year-old Naveed Khan who was to appear at Model High School Layyah, talking to Dawn said why the provincial government did not settle the issues of teachers before the exams.

FAISALABAD: Teachers did not perform their duty at examination centres.

Office-bearer of teacher union Hafiz Azhar said all teachers were with them on account of their true demands. He claimed police arrested Sheikh Naseem, a private schools association office bearer, when he refused to conduct examinations on the administration instructions.

Teachers demanded the government end hiring on contract and abolish monitoring committees. They demanded payment of teaching allowance and promotions.

SILAKOT: Teachers wielding iron rods and hockey sticks stormed into 10 examination centres in Sialkot and Pasrur and snatched answer sheets from students.

Officials confirmed eight examination centres in Pasrur were closed by teachers. In Sialkot tehsil, two examination centres were closed.

VEHARI: In a majority of the centres, teachers boycotted the examination.

Police invigilated at the Government Modal High School and Government Islamia High School where teachers left the centres handing over students to the police. Later, a few teachers joined the police in invigilation. Police reportedly invigilated the candidates in rural areas as well.

Education EDO Naseem Mansoor said that the teachers’ strike would not affect the examinations.

MIANWALI: Nearly 20,000 candidates of class five could not appear in the examinations because of teachers boycott.

Parents and students chanted slogans against teachers’ organisations and road outside the Government High School. As teachers had locked the entrance of Government Comprehensive High School and Central Model High School, candidates appearing in the Sargodha Board of Intermediate Secondary Education had to scale the walls to get in the examination halls.

MANDI BAHAUDDIN: As all the examination centres were manned by protesting teachers, the candidates went back without taking their papers. The Education Department misjudged the ferocity of the teachers’ protests and did not take any security measure.

Police, later, on the complaint of the education EDO registered cases against District Punjab Teacher’s Union President Muhammad Bashir Warriach and 34 others for interfering in government proceedings. Police arrested three teachers in the Government Islamic High School, Mandi Bahauddin, for sabotaging the examination process.