HYDERABAD, Feb 8: The All Sindh Primary Teachers Association will launch a movement in the province from Jan 10 to press the authorities to accept its charter of demands which includes restoration of teachers' employment quota.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of the association held here on Saturday. Briefing journalists at a press conference here on Sunday about the committee decisions, association president Mohammad Rafiq Jarwar and other office-bearers said the government had forced primary teachers to come out on the roads as it had not accepted their demands.
They said they were being paid a meagre salary and even facilities earlier provided to them had been withdrawn. Quoting examples, they said teachers' employment quota, educational increments, selection grade and move-over had been abolished and increments given in 1983 and 1991 were being deducted.
They pointed out Sindh Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat had held two meetings with leaders of the association but minutes of the meetings had not been issued. They also blamed the federal government, specially Education Minister Zubaida Jalal, for the situation.
They said following teachers' protest outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on June 4, 2003, Ms Jalal had held talks with the Pakistan Teachers United Front leadership on June 5 and had not only accepted the demands but also promised to announce a package at the inter-provincial coordination committee meeting that was to be held in Quetta.
The teachers regretted that the meeting had not been convened so far. They said the attitude of federal and Sindh officials and the recent advertisement about the appointment of teachers ignoring the employment quota had created unrest among the teachers.
They observed that 25 per cent quota in employment for teachers' children was their fundamental, legal and moral right which they would not surrender.
Announcing the schedule of the protest, the leaders of the association said 125,000 primary teachers of Sindh would hoist black flags and banners atop school buildings and wear black arm bands on Feb 10. Protest demonstrations would be held and processions would be taken out at taluka and district headquarters on Feb 14, memoranda would be submitted to parliamentarians, district Nazims and DCOs, a march would be held from the Quaid-i-Azam mausoleum to the Chief Minister House, Karachi, and a sit-in would be staged on Feb 19. Teachers' leaders of Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan would also participate in the march, they further said.
They said they would not allow the establishment of camps at district headquarters to conduct written tests for the appointment of teachers. The teachers, they added, would not accept any assignment, except attending classes, and would also boycott government functions.
They demanded that the employment quota of the teachers should be restored, contractual teachers be confirmed in service, increments be given to teachers who had cleared their B.Ed during study leave and the revised scale announced in 1983 and 1991 be restored.