RAWALPINDI: A strike by teachers and clerks in government offices left educational institutions and official working at a standstill on Tuesday.

The teachers and clerks have announced to continue their strike against changes to the pension and leave encashment rules till their demands were met. However, the District Education Authority said schools would remain open on Wednesday (today).

On the call of Punjab Teachers Association and the All Pakistan Clerk Association, many government schools in the district were locked while a pen-down strike was observed in government offices, including the offices of the deputy commissioner and commissioner.

The teachers locked schools which created problems for the students who were forced to go back home. The strike is being observed against changes made by the caretaker Punjab government to pension and leave encashment rules.

“The caretaker government decided to give pension to government employees on the basis of their basic pay of the first months of their service. Earlier, the pension was provided on the running basic pay while leave encashment has also been reduced significantly,” Raja Shahid Mubarak, a senior leader of Punjab Teachers Association, told Dawn.

He said the government employees and teachers were protesting against the unfair decision of the caretaker government which had no authority to make such policy decisions. He said it was an injustice to teachers and government employees who gave 25 years of their life to the government service.

He said the caretaker government also handed over 25 good performing schools to an NGO. The results of these schools were better than all the 1800 schools in the district but the government wanted to privatise the schools. He said the non-teaching staff of schools was disturbed over the new rules as rising inflation had already made their lives miserable.

Meanwhile, the teachers and government employees staged a protest demonstration outside the commissioner office. All office-bearers of the associations had gone to Lahore to participate in a protest demonstration there while teachers gathered outside the commissioner office and recorded their protest.

When contacted, District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Yaseen Khan Baloch said many schools were forcefully closed by the protesters but we would open the schools from Wednesday.

“We would not allow anyone to disturb education of students.”

He said he had invited the office-bearers of Punjab Teachers Association and All-Pakistan Clerk Association to discuss the issue. Observing a strike is the right of employees but it should not affect educational activities. He said the teachers should not lock schools and force the students to go home.

“We would discuss the issue with the association and try to resolve the issue for the sake of students’ future,” Mr Baloch said.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023