ISLAMABAD: Teaching and non-teaching staff refused to start academic activities from Monday (today) despite a directive of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) stating classes must resume.

Members of the staff, who have been on strike against the Local Government Ordinance, 2021 convened a meeting of all school heads to discuss the next course of action. “We are not going to open schools on Monday, rather our general body meeting will take place to discuss the issue,” said Malik Ameer Khan, president of the Federal Government Teachers’ Association.

He said an action committee of FDE employees headed by Fazal-i-Mola has been holding meetings with the government and in the general body meeting, the committee will share the proposed amendment, being offered by the government to be made to an ordinance.

“If the general body will ask for complete deletion of section 166 of the ordinance, we will continue our strike till the deletion of this clause. Otherwise, the general body will finalise the amendment to the ordinance,” he said, adding that in recent days, a couple of meetings had taken place between government representatives and protesters.

Teachers’ association to hold general body meeting to discuss way forward, official says

It is relevant to note here that protesting schoolteachers have been demanding withdrawal of the government’s decision to place public-sector schools under the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) through the said ordinance.

Teachers along with the non-teaching staff from 390 schools had staged two massive protests outside the Parliament House.

They have been supported by those in opposition parties including PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz, Khawaja Asif, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Anjum Aqeel, PPP leader Sibtul Hassan Bukhari and Mian Aslam of Jamaat-i-Islami. Others have already opposed the said ordinance after expressing their sympathy with teachers.

Teachers say that they would not accept the ordinance, come what may, adding that through an ordinance educational institutions were being placed under the local government.

The local government is supposed to generate its own resources and funds while Islamabad’s education sector requires around Rs20 billion every year, something which is beyond the capacity of the local government, teachers said, adding in case the decision was not reversed, the local government could go for privatisation of schools.

Sources said school managements requested parents not to send their students on Monday as educational activities will not take place.

Meanwhile, FDE issued a notification on Sunday, stating: “It is observed with the grave concerns that there are messages circulating on social media to suspend academic activities in FDE’s educational

institutions on Monday, January 10,2022 in the pretext of ongoing protests on the account of introduction of ICT Local Government Ordinance 2021. In this regard it is recapitulated that official instruction of FDE stand in place and any violations shall be dealt accordingly.”

It further said: “It is to reiterate that all educational institutions are to resume their educational activities w.e.f January 10, 2022 after winter vacations and there must not be any suspension of academic activities to avoid any more academic losses for students.”

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2022