HYDERABAD, May 26: The All Sindh Primary Teachers Association (ASPTA) has endorsed the decision of the supreme council of the Pakistan Teachers United Front to hold a demonstration outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on June 4 to press for the acceptance of teachers’ demands.

Speaking at a news conference here on Monday, ASPTA president Rafiq Jarwar, Shaheen Akhtar, Jam Mazhar and other leaders of the association said last year the Pakistan Teachers United Front (PTUF) had submitted a charter of demands to the federal government and teachers held demonstrations in big cities of the country for their demands.

They said the Front had also announced to stage a protest sit-in outside the Parliament House on May 21, 2002. However, then Education Minister Zubeda Jalal held a meeting with the leadership of the PTUF on May 20 and following the meeting a committee, headed by the federal minister and comprising education ministers, secretaries of the provinces and representatives of the Front, was constituted to resolve problems of teachers, they added.

The leaders of the association reminded that the first meeting of the committee was held on June 11 in which the government announced that demands of teachers were genuine and would be accepted. They said the committee had also decided to announce a special package for teachers before the 2003 budget and that monthly meetings of the committee would be held till problems of teachers were resolved.

However, they regretted, even after the lapse of one year, problems of teachers had not been resolved.

They appealed to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to implement the decisions taken by the committee to end unrest among teachers.