KARACHI, Aug 22: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has declared that the government will not withdraw the decision of ban on teachers’ organisations. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the chief minister said that the ban would not be reversed as no government employee could take part in any kind of unionism under the law.

He claimed that the government had resolved to do away with the black mailing by absentee teachers and those who ruined education under the cover of teachers’ organisations and would continue with the process of improving the standard of educational institutions.

Arbab Rahim said that he had all respect for those teachers who were real builders of the nation and who considered students as their wards and thought for a better future for them. However, he said that he did not care for those teachers, who ruined education in the name of unionism. He said that educational system suffered because of them. “The government has imposed the ban on teachers' unions in the greatest interest of people of this province,” he said and thanked all those who supported this move.

He made it clear that the government would not bow to the teachers’ threat that they would oppose the PML-Q during the general elections. “The interests of people are dear to us. We need the genuine votes of the people and do not require support of the opportunist teachers,” he added. —PPI