PESHAWAR: The teachers of state-run schools on Monday held a protest demonstration against the proposed education law.

The protesters said that they would allow privatisation of education. They threatened to launch agitation against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government if their demands were not met.

The protesters gathered outside Peshawar Press Club. They were holding banners and placards inscribed with their demands. They were shouting slogans against the provincial government.

Tanzeem-i-Asatiza provincial president Khairullah Hawari, Sikandar Khan Yousafzai, Firdus Khan Khalil and Shamshad Jhagra were leading the protesting teachers.

Speaking on the occasion, the leaders of the protesters said that government was going to table a bill in the provincial assembly that would create many problems for the teachers.

The proposed law, they feared, would be against the Civil Servant Act, 1973 which was tantamount to privatisation of education. The proposed law would affect teachers’ timescale and departmental promotions as all the decisions would be taken by the board of governors, they added.

The protesters demanded one-step promotion for teachers of all cadres to remove unrest among them. “If the employees of health department, judiciary and secretariat can be given allowances, then why the education department is ignored,” they questioned.

The protesters urged the government to discuss the issues with the representatives of teachers to resolve the problem amicably otherwise they would be left with the only option to start agitation.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for higher education department contradicted the news appearing in a section of print media regarding privatisation of government colleges.

He said that neither a decision about privatisation of government colleges was taken, nor any such suggestion was under consideration.

The spokesman said that the statements of college teachers published in the press were baseless. He said that it was only propaganda to create confusion among teachers and students of government colleges.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017