SAHIWAL: The divisional and local chapter of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) on Thursday staged a rally from College Chowk to the Sahiwal Press Club to protest against the non-acceptance of their demands by the Higher Education Department (HED) and the Punjab government.

The protest was led by the PPLA divisional and local office-bearers after the teachers boycotted classes in three institutions in the city. Their protest for 30 minutes threw traffic out of gear.

PPLA divisional president Tahir Islam said the HED in response to their previous protest in Lahore prepared a summary for accepting their demands but it had not been sent to the chief minister for approval.

He said the special secretary education assured the protesters on Dec 20 last that their demands would be met within 30 days.

He said as the deadline had passed, the teachers would stage a sit-in on The Mall on Jan 25.

The PPLA is demanding the acceptance of agreed upon draft which includes time-scale promotions, allocation of quota for MPhil and PhD scholarships for college teachers, and opposition to privatisation of public-sector colleges by making BoGs.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018