Primary teachers’ protest continues amid ‘suspension orders’

PESHAWAR: The teachers of the primary school continued their protest sit-in on the second consecutive day on Wednesday as the government issued an order to suspend the protesting staff.

“I am directed to refer to the subject cited above and to convey that issue suspension order of all those teachers who are involved in protest and due whom schools are closed since 5-11-2024 and submit report to this office by tomorrow,” said the order sent to all district education officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

However, All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) declared to continue the sit-in and school closure till acceptance of all their demands despite suspension orders. APTA President Azizullah Khan claimed that all the 26,000 schools remained closed on Wednesday and would remain so today and until acceptance of their demands. Though no official contact was made with the protesting teachers on Wednesday, Azizullah Khan was quite hopeful of a breakthrough today (Thursday).

“We will not call off our strike and protest until we get a written assurance from the provincial government regarding accepting our demand pertaining to upgradation,” he said. He rejected the reports of action against protesting teachers. He said that they were ready for any kind of action by the quarters concerned.

“The teachers were ready to face any action. They were aware of it when they were launching the strike and starting the protest sit-in,” he said. He said that the attendance at the sit-in on the second day was higher than the first day and it would keep increasing with each passing day, he claimed.