Employees oppose single educational board plan

MARDAN: Hundreds of employees of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Mardan staged a protest rally against the government’s plan to abolish all the educational boards and merge them into the Peshawar board.

The protesters marched from the board building to the Mardan Press Club. All Pakistan Clerks Association (Apca) central General Secretary Aurangzeb Kashmiri, Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Union President Iftikhar Ahmed and other office-bearers led the rally.

Mardan Mayor Himayatullah Mayar, All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation Chairman Sharafatullah Yousafzai, Fazl Qayum, Taj Mohammad and representatives of different government employees unions and political parties attended the rally. The employees of the Mardan board were there as well.

Holding banners inscribed with their demands, the protesters chanted slogans against the provincial government. Addressing the rally, the speakers condemned the government’s plan and alleged that the establishment of one educational board would create a host of problems for students and employees.

They argued that if the government wanted to bring reforms to the educational boards, it should take all stakeholders into confidence. The protesters said the results of the intermediate examinations would not be declared until their demands were met.