RAWALPINDI, Dec 25: Primary teachers of Rawalpindi district who had rejected the promotional package given by the previous provincial government said the plan in fact demoted many teachers.
A press release issued by Primary Elementary Teachers Association (PETA) Rawalpindi chapter said primary teachers were continuously being ignored by the successive provincial governments.
In the absence of proper service structure for the primary and elementary school teachers, they could reach only to the basic pay scale 9 as they were inducted in BPS-7. On the other hand a matric-passed clerk with no extra qualification could get the promotion to BPS-16 from BPS-5.
Talking to Dawn district President PETA Mirza Shamshir Ali said the previous Punjab Chief Minister approved a package for the upgradation of the primary and elementary school teachers after prolonged protests and agitation. The package was based on seniority of the teachers and 50 per cent of the teacher serving in a certain scale were to be promoted to the next scale but at the time of implementation the government put many teachers in the scale of their appointment ignoring their higher scale awarded to them on the basis of improved and extra qualifications, he said.
The representative of the primary teachers said that some 600 teachers had been affected by the notification of the Punjab government issued in September 2007 as they had been demoted affecting them both financially and seniority-wise.
He said he himself had been demoted to BPS-9 from BPS-14 as a result of the package. He said he had been serving in BPS-14 for the last 12 years after his promotion on higher qualification.
Shamshir Ali said the primary teachers had also been demanding raise in allowance for invigilating examinations in far off schools.
He said an invigilator had been paid Rs300 per day for the last 12 years and the amount should be raised as the fares and other everyday expenditures had increased over the times.
He also demanded Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) to assign the primary teachers on the duties of examination superintendents and deputy superintendents as presently only elementary (secondary school) teachers performed the duties of the superintendents.
The association of the primary teachers also demanded increase in the advance paid for the burial of any close relative of a teacher and for the dowry of his daughter on her marriage. The government pays Rs5,000 for the burial and Rs10,000 for the dowry and the advance is deducted from the monthly salary of a teacher.
Executive District Officer (EDO) Education Muhammad Yousaf could not be contacted for his comments on the issue.