News Desk |
Teachers across Sindh announced on Friday, 29th March they will be boycotting classes after being attacked with batons and tear gas at Karachi’s Press Club on Thursday, 28th March, by the local police.
President of the Government Secondary Teachers Association (GSTA) Ashraf Khaskheli said that no classes will be held in any government schools across Sindh on Friday, today. The decision to boycott comes at a time when the Board of Secondary Education (Matric) and Intermediate exams are scheduled to start April 1.
On Thursday, a group of protesting teachers near the city’s press club were moving as a rally towards the Chief Minister House nearby, with demands of basic employee rights, including promotion and group insurance. The protesters were pushed back with batons and teargas by the police, turning the protest into a battle zone.
The protest was initiated by GSTA for the approval of their demands which include addressing the reservations of teachers due to the insecurity created by the management cadre.
Police also arrested more than 200 teachers who apparently tried to proceed towards the Chief Minister’s (CM) House. Some shells also landed in the premises of Karachi Press Club (KPC) compelling the journalists present there to take precautionary measures to avoid the breathing issues due to the smoke, local press reported.
While the president of GSTA claimed that at least 250 protesting teachers had been arrested, Edhi sources said that they had shifted many injured to the hospitals, out of whom five were stated to be in serious condition.
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The protest was initiated by GSTA for the approval of their demands which include addressing the reservations of teachers due to the insecurity created by the management cadre, to give permanent status to the National Testing Service (NTS) teachers from date of joining, promotions of Sindhi Language Teachers and High School Teachers (HST) to headmaster and Junior School Teacher (JST) to HST on immediate basis, provision of time-scale according to Grade 17 to government school teachers, Grade 20 contract to HST, issuance of salary of teachers appointed in 2012, provision of group insurance at the time of retirement in the light of Supreme Court (SC) verdict, following the old procedure of appointments in education sector by Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), provision of salaries to all government teachers equivalent to government officials working at the CM House, Governor House, Sindh Assembly and Sindh High Court, amongst eight other demands. The teachers have also announced the boycott of matric annual examinations and all academic affairs across the province.