SWABI, Jan 17: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government should not discriminate between religious and other teachers and the two types of instructors should be given the same privileges and perks.

This was demanded at a meeting of the All Teachers Association (ATA) held here on Wednesday. The meeting was convened to adopt a line of action for negotiations with the government.

The meeting was presided over by ATA provincial vice-president Mohammad Tariq and district general secretary Zar Nabi Khan.

The NWFP government has awarded BPS-15 to those Arabic teachers who passed ‘Shahadatul Alamia’ (equivalent to MA Arabic and Islamic studies) and BPS-14 to those theology instructors who passed ‘Shahadatul Alia’ (equivalent to BA).

Before upgradation the Arabic teachers (ATs) were in BPS-9 and the theology teachers (TTs) in BPS-7. However, those passing BA in second division were in BPS-14 and BPS-9, respectively.

The physical education teachers, certified teachers and drawing masters said their qualification as well as professional education was far better when compared to the religious teachers and they also put in more hours than the ATs and TTs.

They claimed that 98 per cent of the PETs, DMs and CTs had MA and BEd and a great number of them also had MEd. “The MMA government has created a class system among teachers,” they said.