PEA wants teachers hired on permanent basis

Terms recruitment of primary teachers on daily wages a conspiracy against education

The office-bearers of Punjab Educators Association (PEA) Rawalpindi have termed the recruitment of primary teachers on daily wages in government educational institutions a conspiracy against education and a sick joke.

The PEA leaders Central President Malik Amjad Mahmood, Abdul Razzaq Khan Niazi, Chairman Asif Mehmood Kashmiri, Chief Organiser Muhammad Asif Iqbal, Vice President Rashid Mahmood Abbasi and others have demanded that the government withdraw the decision and the recruitment of teachers should be done as permanent employees. They made these remarks while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday. The PEA leaders said education is the basic right of every human being. They added it is the responsibility of the government to ensure quality education for every child.

They pointed out that previous governments conducted recruitment in the education department on a contractual basis for between five to seven years after which these employees’ services were regularised.

They said the PEA expected the PTI government would have abolished the practice of contractual appointments but it too had continued the recruitment policies of its predecessors. They warned that hiring teachers on a daily-wage mode would only harm the cause of education which the prime minister has said repeatedly is close to his heart.

The PEA leaders also said that other countries spend a significant portion of their budget on education and health, whereas in Pakistan, education is not accorded the same priority. They said many claims had been made of giving priority to education but nothing has been done in practice.

They added that a financially stable educator can teach students better. They criticised the recruitment of school teacher interns at Rs750 rupees per day while the daily wage of a labourer is Rs1,000.

The PEA leaders said contractual recruitments in the education sector were prevalent nowhere in the world and the practice had also been stopped by HEC. They demanded abolishment of the contract system and hiring of educators on a permanent basis and cited the Supreme Court’s decision in their favour.

The PEA leaders said the government had issued notification regarding 25 per cent special allowance in the salaries of government employees which they have not yet started to receive.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2021.