ATTOCK, Nov 9: The Punjab government will eliminate the contract system from the education department by regularising all teachers and will not tolerate any political interference in this crucial sector, Raja Mohammad Anwar, chairman of the special task force on education, said here on Sunday.
Mr Anwar was speaking at a seminar on “Mobilisation and Motivation of Elementary Primary School Teachers” at the Government Pilot Secondary School in Attock city.
Besides teachers and officials of the education department, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar and District Monitoring Officer Shahid Farooq were was also present on the occasion.
Mr Anwar said the government was aware of the problems being faced by the teachers, adding that it was committed to redressing these concerns by revising the salary structure and arranging accommodation facilities.
“A revolution can be brought in the education sector only with the uplift of primary teachers as they are the backbone of the education system,” he observed.
The task force chairman also expressed concern over the lack of basic education facilities at primary level, and said 28,423 schools out of total 62,000 in the Punjab province were without electricity.
In some cases, five to six classes are being managed in one or two room schools, he added.
According to him, Rs100 billion were required for the provision of missing facilities to the schools. Mr Anwar said the government was struggling and utilising all its resources to bring improvement in the education sector.
He said 34,000 teachers were being recruited on merit to meet the shortage of teaching staff. He urged upon the educators to perform their duties with honesty, devotion and commitment.
Speaking on the occasion, Directorate of Staff Development Punjab project director Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Kambo claimed that an unnecessary number of schools were opened in Attock, as enrollment in 89 schools in the district was between zero to 49 per cent.
DCO Saqib Zafar, in his remarks, said that education sector reforms were being implemented in real terms by the Punjab government to ensure provision of quality education to the students and redress the problems of teachers. He assured that the district administration would extend full support to the teachers and the education department in this regard.
Meanwhile, officials of the education department had to close the gates of the Government Pilot Secondary School earlier to ensure the presence of a large audience during the address of Mr Anwar.
Around 2,000 teachers from all over the district reached the school at around 9:30am on the directives of the education department but become frustrated with the key feature of the event – a speech by the chief guest – could not take place even after four hours.
They started to leave the school building but were stopped at the gates that were closed by the education department’s staff, which even deployed some policemen to turn away the teachers.