SIALKOT, Feb 17: The Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) and the Muttahida Mahaz Asatiza Pakistan will launch a countrywide campaign from Thursday (Feb 19) to protest over the rejection of their demands by the government.

This was stated by PTU central president Raja Zafeer Ahmad Sitti at a press conference in Daska city on Tuesday. He said that the teachers would set up a hunger strike camp in front of the Parliament House and hold a meeting near Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi on Thursday. The teachers' representatives would present a memorandum to the speaker of the Sindh Assembly.

He said that a meeting would be held at the Government Christian Higher Secondary School in Rawalpindi on March 10. The participants would later present their charter of demands to Federal Minister for Information Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad at Lal Haveli.

The teachers would hold a meeting at the Government Pilot Secondary School in Muzaffarabad (AJK) on March 16. They would also present a memorandum to the speaker of the AJK Assembly.

The Balochistan teachers would hold a meeting at the Government High School, Fort Sendiman, Quetta, on March 25. They would present their charter of demands to the Balochistan Assembly speaker.

PTU's provincial secretary information Abdul Rasheed Nagra said that the teachers from all over the country would take out a procession from Faisal Masjid to the Parliament House and present a charter of demands to the National Assembly on April 15.

All central, provincial and district representatives of the PTU will participate in hunger strike camps at Aabpara Chowk in Islamabad on April 16 and 17.

Raja Zafeer Ahmad Sitti and Abdul Rasheed Nagra said that their demands included time scale for all cadres of school teachers, selection grade, move-over and restoration of promotion on additional qualification, the sanctions of teachers' house rent according to existing scales, equality in the salaries and incentives between provincial and federal governments teachers, end to the contract policy and rising interruption of the NGOs in the government schools, recruitment of teachers on permanent basis, allocation of special quota for teachers' children and withdrawal of amendment in pension and commutation table and increase in medical and charge allowances.

They said that the teachers would continue their protest campaign till the acceptance of their demands.

TEACHERS' SHORTAGE: There are two teachers for more than 130 girls students of the Government Girls Middle Schools, Lakara Kalan, Daska tehsil. According to details, the school was upgraded to middle level by the education department about five years ago. Since then, no teacher or any other staff had been posted in this school. There is no electricity in the school, while the water pump has also been stolen.