LANDI KOTAL, Jan 3: About 400 teachers working in community schools in Khyber Agency have been waiting for their salaries for two months, it is learnt.

The government had established 199 non-formal (community) schools in the Khyber Agency with every school having two teachers and a watchman.

The Fata education department had fixed Rs3,400 monthly salary for teachers and Rs2,800 for the watchmen. Bahadur Khan, an official of the Fata education department, said that funds allocated for 2004 had already been exhausted, adding that the matter had been taken up with the finance wing.

A spokesman for teachers, Kiramat Khan, said that they had repeatedly lodged complaints with the department concerned, but to no avail. He warned that they would boycott classes from Jan 15, if their salaries were not paid before Eidul Azha. Besides, eight lecturers posted on ad hoc basis to the Government Degree College, Landi Kotal, have also not received their salaries for the last two months.