MUZAFFARGARH: More than 600 women teachers of the Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) schools in the district are facing financial crunch as they have been denied their salaries for the last two years.

The Punjab government had allocated Rs1.613 billion for such schools in 2021-2022 but the amount has not been utilised, leaving the teachers high and dry. The teachers allege that Secretary Literacy Wajihuddin Kundi has not helped them.

Azra Bibi said she had to travel a good two-kilometre distance for the non-formal school she works for and had not been paid a penny for two years. She said she did grocery from a shop on the promise of delayed payment and was unable to clear the debt.

She is also struggling to pay her utility bills due to financial crunch. She said many teachers went to Lahore and Islamabad for protest last year but the government officials placated them with empty promises.

Shamim Bibi said she was a graduate and took permission from her parents to do the job. She said her husband had asked her to leave the job which had no salary or and any other benefit.

Others claimed that the teachers of non-formal schools in Sindh and KP were not only regularly getting salaries every month but also given a raise. The teachers in Punjab, they said, were facing apathy of the government. They said they had to work hard to maintain their families and faced travelling and other issues.

The teachers said they had to work very hard and convince people to send their children to schools. They said Rs9,000 salary per month was not enough in times of back-breaking inflation and it was a mockery of the profession. They said Sania Nishtar had assured that their salaries would be increased and jobs regularised but nothing had been done.

A literacy official said there were more than 7,000 women teaching in these schools across Punjab and the higher-ups had okayed payment of salaries to them after checking their attendance.

A source said the Council of Common Interests (CCI) handed over the BECS and NCHD schools being run by the federal government to the provincial government back in 2020 but since then, the teachers had been facing financial problems.

The teachers have requested Chief Minister Parvez Elahi to release the salaries with a raise and regularise their jobs so that they could perform their duties with peace of mind. They have also appealed to the Supreme Court chief justice to take notice of their plight.

Director General Literacy Bashir Ahmed Goraya told Dawn that the process of salaries had been completed and the payments would be made within a few weeks. He said the federal government handed over these projects to the literacy department and it would pay the salaries after necessary verifications. He also promised a raise for the teachers.

Mr Goraya said the summary of regularisation of the teachers had been sent to the chief minister.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2022