LAHORE: Hundreds of teachers under the banner of the Grand Teachers Alliance (GTA) Punjab staged a massive protest and sit-in outside the Civil Secretariat on Thursday, demanding reversal of various ‘controversial’ policies introduced by the Punjab government.

Teachers from across the province rallied to express concerns at the government’s failure to implement agreements made with them in the past.

The protest, led by the Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) and prominent GTA leaders such as Chaudhry Bashir Warraich, Rana Anwarul Haq, Rana Liaqat and Kashif Shehzad, had several key demands, including a review of the new school timetable, cancellation of the privatisation of 13,000 public schools being handed over to the NGOs and a revision of anomalies in service and promotion rules.

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The core issues of the protesting educators included unconditional promotions for senior subject specialists educators (SSSEs) and assistant education officers (AEOs), time-scale promotions and in-service promotions for all teacher cadres, pay and service protection, upgrade of teacher cadres, restoration of leave encashment and pension reforms, income tax reforms for teachers, recruitment of new teachers, rehabilitation of school infrastructure, establishment of new science and computer labs and issuance of a computer allowance and head teacher allowance.

PTU Rana Liaqat urged the teachers across the province to resist intimidation tactics allegedly being used by the administration and participate in the protest.

“Teachers must not be intimidated by negative tactics. We urge all to reach the Civil Secretariat Lahore at any cost,” Liaqat said in a statement.

The leadership of the GTA expressed frustration at the government’s alleged failure to address their legitimate grievances.

“Our protest is peaceful but the administration is provoking us with negative strategies. A peaceful protest is our constitutional and legal right and it cannot be stifled through force,” they said.

The teachers opposed the handover of the privatisation to the NGOs, expressing concerns at its impact on education quality and job security. The ongoing teacher transfer round had been described as chaotic and mentally exhausting for educators.

The GTA leaders also warned that the government’s constant experimentation with the education system was pushing it toward collapse.

“These new experiments will destroy the education system,” said one of the leaders who added that the teachers were left with no choice but to protest for their rights and for the future of education in the province.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024