HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) on Thursday announced postponement of the secondary school certificate (SSC) examinations amid continued protest by employees of all public sector educational boards in Sindh.

BISE controller of examinations Masroor Zai told the media that the exams, scheduled to start on March 25, could not be held on schedule due to the protest and resultant closure of boards’ offices across the province.

He noted that the employees were opposing the Sindh government’s decision of setting up the Sindh Education Boards Regulatory Authority (Sebra). He claimed that leaders of the protesting employees had not contacted the Hyderabad board’s administration so far for a dialogue on their demands.

Around 135,000 candidates are to appear in the exams to be conducted under the Hyderabad BISE. The administration would need about a week to reschedule the exams and make preparation once the protest ends.

Govt schoolteachers boycott classes

Government schoolteachers boycotted classes and staged a token hunger strike outside local press club on Thursday in protest against Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Shah and secretary for education Qazi Shahid Pervez for their failure to resolve teachers’ problems.

Government Secondary Teachers’ Associa­tion (GSTA) president Haji Ashraf Khaskheli and other office-bearers of the association, who led the protest, warned that teachers from all parts of Sindh would gather at Karachi Press Club on March 28 and begin from there a “historic” march towards Chief Minister’s House where they would stage a sit-in and would keep sitting there till all their demands were met.

They accused Sindh government of pocketing billions of rupees of public money and depriving teachers of their just rights.

They presented a charter of demands, calling for abolition of management cadre, ensuring all due promotions of teachers, regularising 13,000 posts of teachers including Higher Secondary Teachers (HSTs), Junior School Teachers (JSTs) and primary teachers, cancelling move to set up Sindh Education Boards Regulatory Authority to be headed by Dr Asim Hussain and implementing time-scale for grade-19 officers and others.

“A thousand posts of headmasters are lying vacant in the province while Sindh government does not tire of boasting about the so-called educational reforms, which have taken a heavy toll on educational system,” they said.

They said that 3,000 HSTs and 2,000 JSTs had been waiting for their promotions for a long time but Sindh government appeared to care less about nation-builders.

They said that teachers of Hyderabad division which consisted of nine districts of Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Thatta, Sujawal, Jamshoro, Badin and Dadu had boycotted classes that day. Teachers of Karachi division also went on one-day strike on Thursday in all six districts of Karachi and held a sit-in outside KPC and those of Larkana division would hold protest on Friday outside Larkana Press Club.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019