PESHAWAR: As the primary schoolteachers’ sit-in for post upgradation continued here for the third consecutive day, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elementary and secondary education department on Thursday authorised district education officers (DEOs) to act against the protesters for not performing their duties.

These teachers from across the province have been staging a sit-in in the provincial capital for the last three days to demand upgradation of their posts.

In an audio message, addressed to DEOs, secretary of the elementary and secondary education department Masood Ahmed said that the provision of compulsory education to children free of charge was the government’s responsibility under Article 25-1 of the Constitution, so the education department, officials and teachers had been assigned roles for the purpose.

He directed DEOs not to show any “negligence” regarding the provision of free education to students and ensure government primary schools in their jurisdiction are functional in line with the relevant laws and rules.

Secretary asks education officers to ensure smooth functioning of schools

The secretary also ordered the functioning of schools “even under makeshift arrangements on the need basis” and said the DEOs could take legal actions against teachers not fulfilling their duties.

“You [EDOs] must ensure smooth running of educational activities in your respective districts without any interruption,” he said.

Meanwhile, the provincial directorate of education directed DEOs to issue suspension notices of all teachers who are involved in protest and responsible for school closures since Nov 5.

It also asked those education officers to submit reports on the matter today (Friday).

On the other hand, the sit-in by primary schoolteachers continued near Jinnah Park for the third consecutive day.

Earlier in the day, leaders of the All Primary Teachers Association held a detailed meeting with the education secretary, according to provincial APTA president Azizullah Khan.

He told Dawn that the secretary informed visitors that the department had “worked out” some of their demands but the post upgradation couldn’t be done without the chief minister’s directives.

Mr Azizullah said that the education secretary promised to discuss the matter with the Chief Minister’s House and get back to the teachers, but the latter hadn’t heard from him for several hours.

He said the teachers’ protest would continue until the government accepted their upgradation demand.

The association leader said that the teachers were not worried about job suspension and that such an action would bolster their protest.

He said that the province had 100,000 primary schoolteachers, so it was “even difficult for the department to print so many suspension letters.”

Mr Azizullah claimed that the teachers were scheduled to meet with the chief minister but the meeting was put off due to the “reluctance” of the education department.

However, an official at the Chief Minister’s House insisted that no meeting with teachers was on the chief minister’s schedule.

An education department official told Dawn requesting anonymity that the protesting teachers were told not to “go off track” and were asked to wind up their sit-in and resume duty because they had recorded their protest.

He said the department conveyed to teachers that their and the department’s responsibility was to teach the students and they could not be left unattended even for a single day.

Also in the day, an Awami National Party delegation led by provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain attended the sit-in to express solidarity with the teachers.

Mr Hussain said his party supported the teachers’ demands.

“The upgradation of teachers will create more vacancies,” he said.

The ANP leader said on one hand, the KP government had been bidding to purchase the national flag carrier but on the other, it had no money to pay its employees.

In August this year, the provincial cabinet reversed the last elected government’s move to upgrade over 130,000 positions of schoolteachers in the province.

In its last cabinet meeting on January 17, 2023, then Chief Minister Mahmood Khan’s government had decided to grant upgradation to the government school teachers.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2024