MUZAFFARGARH: More than 700 teachers protested against the education department on Monday on World Teachers Day for non-payment of salaries for six month.

The protest was held outside the Government Elementary College of Education on Muzaffargarh-Jhang Road.

The teachers claimed they spent both of this year’s Eids without money as their department did not release salaries. The protesters did not block the road, but lined it while motorists and passersby waved to show support.

Later, the teachers attended a World Teachers Day ceremony at Khursheedabad Girls High School that was also attended by office-bearers of Punjab Teachers Union, Idara-i-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA) and Oxfam. The teachers registered their protest at the ceremony also. Women teachers alleged they were facing threats from monitoring department officials who entered their classrooms and harassed them.

Azra, a teacher, said a district education officer and executive district officer (EDO) insulted them when they asked for casual leave and even in an emergency they were not allowed to leave the school without permission.

Punjab Teachers Union leaders demanded the district coordination officer (DCO) and chief minister issue executive order to all offices, especially accounts offices, to treat teachers with respect. The teachers demanded time pay scale and permanent status for educators recruited in 2012.

EDO (Education) Shamshair Sial claimed the 734 newly appointed educators could not get their salaries due to a delay in verification of their documents. He further claimed 54 cases of bogus degrees had been detected and soon salaries would be released.

DCO Hafiz Shaukat Ali said if accounts office officials demanded bribe from teachers, he would take stern action against them. He said all demands of teachers would be accepted. He further said motioning teams would not be allowed to threaten teachers.

Meanwhile, a policy dialogue was also organised by ITA on empowering teachers and building a sustainable society. The discussion focused on professional development of teachers and how they could be empowered.

The teachers announced they would march on Lahore next week to protest against Education Secretary Abdul Jabbar Shaheen.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2015

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