Gilgit [PoGB], June 2 : Government school educators in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) persisted with their class boycott and staged a protest sit-in for the sixth consecutive day, urging authorities to address their single-point demand for long-awaited promotions, as reported by Dawn.
Academic activities have come to a halt at government schools throughout PoGB since last week, as thousands of educators declared they would only end their protest once their singular request is met. For the past five days, teachers have held demonstrations and rallies outside education department offices in Hunza, Nagar, Astore, Skardu, Diamer, Ghanche, Shigar, Kharmang, and Ghizer. On Friday, teachers from these regions marched toward Gilgit and joined the protest sit-in outside the PoGB Directorate of Education in Gilgit, the regional headquarters where the minister's office is located, according to Dawn.
Despite harsh weather conditions on Saturday, numerous government educators continued their protest sit-in outside the PoGB Directorate of Education, responding to the call from the Teachers' Coordination Committee. The organisers stated that government teachers have been seeking promotions for many years. Teachers holding a Bachelor of Education should ascend to Grade 16, while those with a Certificate in Teaching should rise to Grade 14, they elaborated. Yet nearly 7,000 teachers who possess the necessary qualifications were overlooked, as only 300 were promoted in what they deemed a "discriminatory" manner by the education department.
The PoGB Supreme Appellate Court had instructed the government to grant teachers their rightful pay scales. Additionally, the chief court mandated enforcement of the appellate court's ruling for qualified educators to receive their appropriate service scales. Nevertheless, the protesters claimed that the PoGB government was hesitant to comply with the court order, denying teachers their entitlements, as noted by the Dawn report.
An official notification released by the school education department on May 30 directed the director general of education to perform "a comprehensive verification exercise of all teachers employed by the school education department across all PoGB districts." However, the protesting instructors labelled this action as another tactic to postpone their rightful promotions and declared that their protest would persist until the court order is executed, according to Dawn.
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