Private schools pay less then Rs 6,000 minimum wage

Private schools not paying minimum wage to faculty
Lahore, July 18: Although the government has fixed minimum wage of labour at Rs 6,000, teachers in many private schools have not benefited from this decision.

There are many private schools in Lahore which disregard the government-implemented minimum wage and exploit their teachers. The number of private schools registered with the Education Department is 5,500 in the Lahore district according to available data. According to sources in the Education Department, there are many schools in the city -including those with a large number of enrolled students- that pay their teachers only Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 and complain of few resources and many expenses.

There are also a large number of schools which have charged their students full fees during the summer vacation and have either not paid their teachers or paid them less than their fixed salaries.

Afia Ihsan, a teacher at a private school, said most of the students at this school submitted their fees before the summer vacation. However, the school management paid only half the salaries to the teachers. She said there were many graduate teachers who were paid less than Rs 6,000 in private schools

Shabana Nadeem, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) teacher with years of teaching experience, said her salary was less than Rs 6,000. She said teachers' salaries increased with the passage of time in the government sector, but there was no such mechanism in the private sector. Nadeem said the government should bring private schools under its control and ensure that the minimum wage policy is implemented in private schools.

Inaccurate figures: Lahore Executive District Officer (Education) (EDO) Muhammad Arshad said many private schools in the city defied the minimum wage policy. He said such schools presented inaccurate figures of their teachers' salaries before being registered, and later did not correct these. Arshad said action could be taken against such schools.

All Pakistan Private School Management Association (APPSMA) Chairman Adeeb Jawadani said many schools in the city did not comply with the minimum wage policy. He said inspection teams which visited schools before registration should only register them based on merit and schools comprising two or three rooms should not be registered. "Government schools do not cater to the education requirements of all the children, so private schools are necessary. However, the school inspectors should not take bribes and should register schools only on merit," Jawadani said.

Post your comments

PU Law College lecturer escapes from court
Lahore: Punjab University (PU) Law College lecturer Khujista Rehan on Friday managed to escape from the court of an additional district and sessions judge who cancelled her interim bail in a case registered against her with New Muslim Town police. According to details, Rehan — also the PU girls hostel number 9 superintendent, had gotten a three-day interim bail until Friday. She appeared before the court for confirmation of her bail but the court instead ordered her arrest. However, she managed to flee from the court premises. On July 10, an FIR was registered against Rehan on the complaint of hostel employees for allegedly torturing hostel number 9 warden Dr Farah. Rehan was accused of thrashing Farah and hitting her with a paperweight. According to the FIR, she also issued life threats to the warden and disappeared after the incident. Daily Times

Post your comments

Survey to assess literacy status
Lahore: Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz Khan has said a survey is being launched in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to assess the status of literacy level and quality of education in the province.

The survey in the provincial metropolis will begin from union council No. 148 from July 20 (Monday).

The commissioner has formed an eight-member team headed by DCO Sajjad Ahmad Bhutta and consisting of literacy, education, health and community development EDOs, literacy district officer and officials of the government's research wing. The Japanese delegation is being headed by Heroshi Okokawa.

Jica experts said the survey had been completed in four districts - Khushab, Mandi Bahauddin, Khanewal and Dera Ghazi Khan - and recommendations had been finalised.

The commissioner directed the committee members to conduct a detailed survey of all union councils in Lahore district about schools, where the students' enrolment was less, furniture and building were in disrepair and problems being faced by students and other issues. He directed the committee to submit a report in this regard within one month. Dawn

Post your comments