Punjab protesting teachers charter of demands
Teachers launch protest, present 'charter of demands'
Lahore, Jan 12: The Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) has launched a
large-scale protest against the government and has announced it will suspend
classes until their 'charter of demands' is accepted. PTU represents 450,000
teachers from 63,000 public sector institutions. The protest was launched on
January 5, after which the teachers have been irregular in classes. They have
also threatened to boycott classes for an hour every day from January 12. PTU
President Rasheed Bhatti said the union would continue to boycott classes until
January 15, after which a mass protest would start. He said the teachers faced
several problems that were not mentioned in the charter of demands. Protest
at LPC: The union would stage a protest at Lahore Press Club (LPC) on January
20, while teachers of other areas would protest in their own cities, he said. He
announced a huge protest in Faisalabad on February 24, after which the charter
of demands would be presented to Lahore Commissioner Khusro
Pervaiz. Students: With primary and middle annual examinations due in
February, and matriculation examination due in March, the students may suffer
the most. Wasif Ahmed, a student, said teachers were busy holding meetings to
organise the protest and had little time for classes. He said a major part of
the annual course had not been covered so far, and according to the teachers, it
would be completed in the last month before the annual examination. The
mother of a primary school student said load shedding had already made things
difficult for the students and the teachers' protest would aggravate their
problems. Punjab Schools Secretary Nadeem Ashraf said only a few union members
were protesting. He urged the protesting teachers to contact him with their
charter of demands. He said the teachers should be concerned about the future of
their students, adding that such behaviour in critical time could affect their
studies.
Primary teachers announce phase-wise protests
Rawalpindi: Primary, Elementary Teachers Association (PETA), the Punjab, has decided to launch phase-wise
protest demonstrations throughout the province to press the government for
meeting their demands. PETA Rawalpindi Chapter President Mirza Shamshir
Ahmed announced this while addressing a press conference on Sunday. He
said in the first phase, from January 12-20, non-gazetted teachers would send
their demands to the government, while in the second phase, from January 21-31,
peaceful protest demonstrations would be staged in front press
clubs. Ahmed said non-gazetted teachers across the province were united
under PETA President Haji Khalid Masood. He said that primary and
elementary teachers played a vital role in the education of children, but the
government was ignoring them. He demanded that the government increase their
salaries as prices of everything were skyrocketing. He said the
government should also allow them check papers of primary board level
examinations. He also demanded special allowance amounting to Rs 2,000 per month
for those who were teaching mathematics, English, Science and Arabic. He
demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif meet their delegation
and solve their problems. Daily Times
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CM urged to remove Government College University Vice Chancellor, Dr Khalid Aftab from his office
Lahore: President of 'The Old Ravians Teachers and Students Association',
Professor Touqeer Sheikh along with other office bearers has demanded of Chief
Minister Punjab, Mian Shehbaz Sharif to remove Government College University
Vice Chancellor, Dr Khalid Aftab from his office after Punjab government has
recovered Rs 1.8 million as Penal Rent from him against his GOR residence. His
appointment as VC is also without formal application, he blamed. He expressed
these views while addressing a joint press conference here on Saturday at the
Lahore Press Club. Former students of GCU and professors were also present on
this occasion. He also requested not to change the name of the GCU with Ravian University. He
said it was very amazing that during the time when Dost Muhammad Khosa was Chief
Minister, more than 3500 such officials were sacked from their office who got
extension in their services after retirement. He said then Dr Khalid Aftab
could survive only for the reasons that Khalid Maqbool, then governor Punjab,
saved him from being sacked. He demanded of the Chief Minister to remove such
all officers from their offices who have been retired from their service. He
said there were also differences between the Chief Minister Punjab and the
secretary Education over the appointment of the VC GCU as the Chief Minister had
sought report from Secretary about the appointment of VC but later did not even
respond. He said the VC, who had sent innocent students to jails and police
stations over the petty offence of making protest should be made responsible for
his act of not paying the house rent to the government. The Nation
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