30 Female Teachers of BECS at Upper Chitral appeal for releasing their salaries of 16 months
CHITRAL (UPPER): Some thirty female teachers in basic education in community schools of Upper Chitral district along with hundreds of male and female students held a peaceful protest and walk in favor of their genuine demands. They say these female teachers teaching in these schools since 1996 under a federal government project but on June 2021, this project was handed over to the provincial government and the provincial government further handed over it to another project, Elementary Education Foundation. They said that there are 1200 Such community Basic schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in which only one female teacher perform duty and teach her students up to 5th Class.. There are about 96 such schools in both the districts of upper and lower Chitral. They said that the Elementary Education Foundation has shown many schools closed in the previous verification, despite that those schools are still open and Children also study there. They said that EEF District program Officer wants to sign an agreement with them in which it is written that we can neither raise our voice nor approach the court for our rights, it is completely unfair and our 23 years of service also not included in it is not counted. Our salaries have been withheld for the last 16 months due to the non-signing of this cruel contract.
Even the young children of these schools had the same slogan that the pen and book should not be taken from our hands. They said that these BECS have been established inside a house in such areas where there is no primary school in its surrounding. And mostly youngest or poor children read in these schools who cannot go too far-flung schools.
These female teachers and students also walked to the DC office and ended their protest after successfully negotiating with the Deputy Commissioner. District Upper Chitral Deputy Commissioner Manzoor Ahmed Afridi assured them after talking to the Additional Secretary Education Department. That their problem will be solved in two weeks
These teachers also thanked the Deputy Commissioner for the talks and his assurance of solving their genuine issue.
These female teachers are demanding from the provincial government to release their salary of 16 months and to regularize their jobs permanent to prevent their long terms services on very less remuneration as well as to save these schools from closing, as a result, hundreds of poor children would be deprived of their basic right i.e education.
