The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has ordered the immediate suspension of primary school teachers absent from their duties across the province.
In line with this, the K-P Director of Education has instructed all district education officers, both male and female, to gather data on teachers participating in protests and to suspend them to restore normal academic activities in schools.
Teachers who are not part of the protest but are absent from school are also to be suspended, with detailed reports submitted to the directorate.
Meanwhile, primary school teachers’ protests and school closures continued for a second consecutive day. The protesting teachers assert they are undeterred by suspension threats, citing past arrests in their pursuit of rights and expressing readiness for further sacrifices.
Reports indicate that primary schools across the province, including in Peshawar, remain shut due to the protests, although some schools in specific areas have stayed open.
Chief Minister Calls Meeting
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has called a meeting with key officials representing primary teachers at 10 a.m. to discuss the teachers’ demands for job upgrades. The deputy commissioner will lead the meeting.
Despite the protests and school closures, the Secretary of Education issued a WhatsApp message claiming that most primary schools are still operating, though the provincial president of the All-Primary Teachers Association insists all primary schools for boys and girls are closed and will remain so until their demands are met. The association president also warned that, if the Education Department’s stance remains inflexible, teachers are prepared to escalate their protests.
The sit-in, held near Jinnah Park, is peaceful to minimize inconvenience to the public.
At the same time, the K-P Director of Education reaffirmed the suspension orders for protesting teachers, though the Secretary of Education’s WhatsApp statements did not reference suspensions.
Protesting teachers from distant regions remain resolute, emphasizing that they have faced jail time before for their demands and are prepared to do so again. They have vowed to continue their sit-in and keep schools closed, regardless of suspension threats.
Political leaders are also beginning to join the teachers’ protest. On Wednesday, Awami National Party’s Mian Iftikhar Hussain visited the demonstration to show solidarity with the teachers.
This protest movement began Tuesday when primary teachers across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa locked schools and sent students home, demanding job upgrades. Following a call from the All-Primary Teachers Association (APTA), all government primary schools in the province were locked, with a declaration that they would remain closed until their promotion demands were approved.
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