College teachers protest against FDE policies

Islamabad: College teachers staged a protest in front of the National Press Club on Wed­nesday under the banner of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA).

Representatives of the association said that they had approached the administration several times to resolve the issues of teachers, students and institutions, but there was no seriousness on part of the administration so teachers had to protest.

It may be recalled that teachers have been wearing black armbands and holding symbolic protests since November 07, 2022. The teachers termed the policies of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) as anti-education and anti-teachers. Rehman Bajwa, chief coordinator of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance, assured participants that various associations of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) woild attend the upcoming protests of teachers if the FGCTA invited.

Prof Farhan Azam, Senior Vice President of FGCTA, demanded that a separate higher education department be established for federal government colleges on the lines of provinces, which should be directly under the control of Ministry of Education because FDE has failed to resolve the issues of F.G colleges and it creates hurdles in BS/ADP programs of colleges. Prof Tahir Bhatti, President Local Unit H-9 College, demanded a separate director for federal government colleges until the higher education department is established. Anam Kaleem, joint secretary of the FGCTA said that the female teachers have been transferred as victimization and retaliation.

Prof. Javed Iqbal Gondal said that the ICT college teachers are stuck with the 30 years old service structure while the provincial government has improved the service structure of their teachers. Nazir Ahmed Bhatta, general secretary of the association, said that the meeting of the Higher Time Scale Committee was not held for a long time. Professor Zubair, who is the president of the H-8 college local unit, said that the rent of the houses has been pending for over a year. Landlords demand rent every day and harass teachers. There seems to be no positive action from the department in this regard.

Dr Rahima Rehman, president of FGCTA said, “The peaceful protest by the teachers continued till the fulfillment of our demands. We are a part of AGEGA. If teachers' issues are not resolved, various associations of AGEGA will also be invited in the protest of college teachers. The teachers also said that if the association asks, they will boycott the assignments of the Federal Board and election duties."