LOWER DIR/Swabi/Shangla: Primary schoolteachers in Lower Dir, Swabi and Shangla held rallies on Friday against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for ignoring their demands for regularisation, upgradation and proper service structure.

In Lower Dir, hundreds of primary teachers boycotted duties and staged a protest rally outside Timergara Press Club. They blocked the main Timergara-Chitral road for some time and chanted slogans in support of their demands.

Addressing the protesters, All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) district president Ali Rehman and general secretary Waheedullah demanded of the government to upgrade the PST post and increase their salaries according to the inflation.

They demanded basic pay scale 16 or 17 for the head teachers of primary schools instead of BPS-15. They said APTA would never accept any deduction from the primary teachers on account of pension.

The speakers also demanded special allowance for the teachers holding MPhil and PhD degrees.

In Swabi, the teachers gathered under the banner of APTA local chapter at government high school, Swabi, and then marched to Karnal Sher Khan Chowk.

The protesting teachers said the increase in electricity, gas and food prices had also affected the teachers and their survival was at stake. They said the monthly deduction on account of pension being made by the provincial government was unacceptable.

They demanded that all ad hoc teachers should be regularised as soon as possible.

‘In the current structure, according to the recruitment and promotion rules of 2018, the scale of primary teachers is 15, which should be given to them,” said Fida Mohammad. He said primary school head teachers should be given grade 16 or 17.

In Shangla, the primary teachers staged a protest demonstration in Alpuri on the call of APTA’s provincial leadership.

APTA’s Shangla chapter president Fazal Ghafoor led the rally. He said the government had forced them to come on to the roads as it was using delaying tactics despite making promises regarding their regularisation, upgradation and service structure.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2022