GILGIT: Government school teachers in Gilgit-Baltistan continued their protest on Wednesday, boycotting classes for the fourth consecutive day to demand promotions.

For the past five days, school teachers in the region have organised protest demonstrations and rallies outside education department offices in Hunza, Nagar, Astore, Skardu, Diamer, Ghanche, Shigar, Kharmang and Ghizer.

A protest sit-in has also been organised outside the Gilgit-Baltistan Directorate of Education in Gilgit City.

The protest call was given by the Teachers’ Coordination Committee. A large number of teachers from various areas are participating in the demonstrations. The protesting teachers blamed the education department’s mismanagement for creating a crisis in schools.

They said government teachers have been demanding promotions for many years.

Teachers with a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) should be promoted to Grade 16, while those with a Certificate in Teaching (CT) should be promoted to Grade 14, they said.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, in its ruling, ordered the government to grant teachers their legitimate pay scales.

The chief court also clearly directed the implementation of the Supreme Appellate Court’s order for qualified teachers to be given their due service scales.

The protesters said the provincial government has been reluctant to implement the court orders and teachers have been deprived of their rights.

They alleged that while the education department promoted 300 teachers based on court directions, nearly 7,000 others were ignored.

“It is discriminatory to reward a few selected teachers while depriving thousands of qualified ones of their rights,” they said.

The protesters accused the government of using delaying tactics, which has led to intense anger among the teachers. They reiterated that even court directives were not being implemented.

They urged the chief minister, the minister for education, the secretary of education, and the chief secretary to immediately promote all CT and B.Ed qualified teachers to their relevant grades. Otherwise, they warned, the protest would expand.

A female teacher told the media that boycotting academic activities was a difficult decision, but it had become the only option as the government failed to fulfill their genuine demand.

She said that teacher representatives had held meetings with government officials and education department heads, but the issue was ignored.

She lamented that high-ranking officials had disrespected teachers.

In response to a question, a teacher representative said the recent poor examination results of grade 8 and grade 10 students in government schools were due to flawed management policies, not the teachers.

The protesters announced that they would call off the protest once their single-point demand was fulfilled.

The protest organisers have called on teachers from other districts to march toward Gilgit, the regional headquarters of Gilgit Baltistan.

During the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly session, opposition member Akbar Rajai raised the issue, stating that all educational activities in government schools had been suspended for several days and that teachers were protesting in the streets.

Gilgit-Baltistan Finance Minister Muhammad Ismail said that the issue was being addressed.

He stated that a summary would be moved to the provincial cabinet for the approval of funds to promote the teachers.

Meanwhile, following the ongoing boycott of classes by teachers, the government on Wednesday announced sports week in public sector schools across the region.

According to a notification issued by the Directorate of Education, Gilgit-Baltistan, sports week in all public sector schools will be observed from Friday, May 30, 2025, until the Eidul Azha holidays.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2025