ISLAMABAD: Scores of teachers attached with the Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) on Monday staged a protest demonstration at D-Chowk to press the government to meet their demands.

The protesting teachers, mostly women, said one teacher was assigned to teach five classes but the salaries they were getting was half of the minimum wage fixed by the federal government.

They said Basic Education Community Schools had been contributing to the education sector for the last 23 years but the government was not paying any heed to solving the issues faced by the teachers.

During their protest, some male teachers were manhandled by the police when the protesters tried to move towards the Parliament House.

The teachers were stopped at D-Chowk where they then staged a sit-in.

The protesters demanded regularisation of their services and salaries at par with that of other government teachers.

The BESC teachers of other cities have also been staging protests for the last several months, demanding the government to fulfill their demands.

The teachers also wanted payment of their salaries on a regular basis.

The BECS is being run across the country under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training.

The federal government has been making efforts to enroll an estimated 25 million out of school children.

An official of the education ministry said for an effective campaign to enroll all the out of school children, there was a need for paying special focus on the BESC.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018