LAYYAH: Female teachers of the District Public School (DPS) on Thursday protested against termination of their contracts abruptly by the district administration.

The protesting teachers gathered at the at TDA Chowk on Choubara Road holding placards and chanted slogans against the district administration’s decision. They were also joined by the district bar association members, teachers union and local traders bodies to show solidarity with them.

The additional district collector (revenue), who is also BoG secretary, in a letter (No.180/AF) issued on May 25 to the DPS principal titled ‘Irregularities in grant of BPS [basic pay scale] and withdrawal of unapproved allowances’.

It said: “The authority has observed this practice as a marked deviation in the institution hence it has been decided that by the start of summer vacation the contracts which were not renewed shall be terminated forthwith and new TOR/offers will be formulated and interested employees will be offered new contracts.”

Teachers will be offered new contracts after streamlining the pay scales: admn

The letter further said, “... on resumption of academic activities after summer vacations all anomalies created in the name of BPS shall be done away with and recoveries if BOG approves shall be processed”.

The DPS, being run by the district administration under a Board of Governors (BoG) has separate boys and girls wings. The girls wing has classes from play group to secondary level and the boys wing from VI to secondary level. More then 1,500 students enrolled in the girls wing are taught by female teachers.

Principal Tahira Zulfiqar told Dawn the school had 54 teaching and 25 non-teaching staff members and after total expenditures incurred each month, it saved Rs0.35 million. She added that the school gave marvelous results in board exams as in every matriculation exam its students secured positions.

She said that how could the employees determine the basic pay scales without the approval of any competent authority.

Teacher Bushra Mumtaz said she had been teaching for the last 25 years at school and now the authorities had terminated her contract with a single stroke of pen without considering her services for the institution.

Advocate Arshad Aslam, who is senior president of the district bar association demanded the deputy commissioner, who was BoG chairman, should withdraw the termination orders. He warned if the orders were not withdrawn, the DBA would stage protest at Fawara Chowk on Friday at 10am.

The local teachers and traders unions also announced joining the Friday protest.

ADC Fakhrul Islam maintained that the deputy commissioner as the school’s BoG chairman was informed by the district accounts officer in an inquiry report that there was no such orders by the competent authority that granted the DPS teachers the basic pay scale on par with the government schools teachers.

“We had not terminated the contracts, and the teachers will be offered new contracts after streamlining the pay scales and allowances.” he said.

The BOG would formulate TORs after holding negotiations with the affected teachers and they would be offered new contracts starting from the date of the termination of old ones, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2019