PESHAWAR: The teaching and non-teaching staff of 390 schools under the Federal Directorate of Education restarted their protest, saying that their demands have not been accepted yet.
Teachers boycotted schools and gathered outside the National Press Club for protest against the subordination of Islamabad’s educational institutions to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) by amending the Local Government Ordinance, 2021. A large number of teachers also reached D-Chowk and closed the road to traffic.
Chanting slogans against the government, the protesters removed barriers and barbed wire and marched outside Parliament House. Because of the protest, the educational activities in all FG institutions were suspended. Fazal Maola, the chairman of the Joint Action Committee, said the Islamabad school teachers protest will continue till Article-166 of the ordinance was repealed. On this occasion, the security personnel tried to stop the protesters from moving towards the parliament house. The police also resorted to baton charge to stop the protesters.
The government has made all educational institutions subordinate to the mayor of the local government through an ordinance, on which the teachers feared that the status of government employees will be changed and the institutions may be privatized. Protesting teachers said that subordinating educational institutions to the MCI is ‘unjust’. The teachers had earlier said in a protest that if the demands were not met, they would take classes outside the Prime Minister’s House.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) has said that educational activities in all FG institutions have been suspended and will decide the future course of action after today’s protest. In this regard, the Chairman of the Joint Action Committee Fazal Maola said that the protest will continue until Article-166 of the Ordinance is abolished.
On the other hand, Malik Amir Khan, vice chairman of the joint action committee, warned that Islamabad school teachers with 2.5 lakh children and parents to participate in the next protest, until the government withdraw the ordinance.