HYDERABAD, June 16: People of Shahoo Khan Hote village of the Jhuddo taluka of the Mirpurkhas district have criticised a decision of setting up a middle school in Abdul Jabbar Leghari village by ignoring the requirement and demand of their village. Speaking at a press conference at the press club on Thursday, Akbar Ali Hote, Ghulam Qadir, Ali Bux and Abdul Waheed said that a primary school was set up in their village in 1945 and a branch of middle school was also established in 1996.

They said that now three primary schools in the taluka had been upgraded to middle schools.

They said that their village’s primary school was the oldest school and the main school of the area.

They said that according to merit, the school had the right to be upgraded to the middle school.

They said that in utter disregard of merit, a building of middle school had been approved for Abdul Jabbar Leghari village which was at a distance of half a mile from their village.

They said that only the main primary school could be upgraded to the middle school.

They said that there was no main primary school in Abdul Jabbar Leghari village but only a branch of their primary school was set up in 1999.

They criticised the upgradation of the branch primary school into a middle school at the cost of the main school.

HUNGER STRIKE: Twenty leaders of the Sindh Employees Alliance observed a token hunger strike outside the press club on Friday in protest against non-acceptance of their demands.

SEA chairman Rafique Jarwar and secretary Prof Liaquat Aziz led the protesters.

Rejecting the proposed ban on teachers and employees associations, they demanded that eight dismissed primary teachers of the Badin district and lecturers of the Government Girls College Qasimabad should be reinstated, employment quota of teachers, employees and deceased’s children should be implemented and victimisation of teachers and employees should be stopped.

They demanded that the education department should be handed over to the Sindh government, retired officials appointed on the contract basis in educational boards should be removed, Language Act 1972 should be implemented in letter and spirit and ad hoc lecturers should be regularised.