KHAR: Students on Tuesday complained that a majority of teachers had not been coming to the schools since the Fata teachers ended their protest on Friday.

Talking to Dawn, students from different areas of the agency said many teachers were still absent from duties in their respective schools despite the schools had reopened on Saturday after the government issued a notification for upgradation of teachers.

Amajd Khan, a student of government high school, Barang, said a majority of teachers had been absent from the school since Friday.

“We went to the school today (Tuesday) after a long time but attended only two periods because most of the teachers were absent from school,” he complained.

Sohil Khan, a student of class 9th in government high school, Raghgan, said a number of teachers had yet to resume their duties despite the fact that schools in the agency had reopened on Saturday.

The students also complained about lack of any check either from the local administration or the education department to ensure presence of teachers in schools.

Meanwhile, several girls schools in the agency are still closed or facing shortage of teachers because the female teachers, most of them outsiders, could not return from their homes after the teachers protest in first week of April.

Parents urged the education department to take action against the absentee teachers.

Meanwhile, an official of the education department told Dawn that a number of teachers in far-flung schools had been absent from duty since Saturday. He said action would be taken against the absentee teachers.

PML-Q WORKERS QUIT PARTY: Hundreds of workers of Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Tuesday quit the party after allegedly developing differences with the party’s central leadership.

Insiders told Dawn that scores of PML-Q activists, including its local chapter president Haji Said Badshah and general secretary Haji Naeemullah, have resigned from the party following some differences with central leadership. The sources, however, did not mention the nature of differences.

When contacted, Said Badshah, confirmed to Dawn about his resignation from the party. He, however, dispelled the impression that he had left the party because of differences with the party leadership, saying that “we left the party because the PML-Q had no presence in Fata compared to other political parties.

He said he was sad to leave the PML-Q as he had been associated with the party for last 12 years.

To a question, Mr Badshah said he along with hundreds of party workers would join JUI-F in a big public meeting in Khar on May 19.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2016