Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has been spending a lot of money on protest rallies to demand the release of Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and has expressed interest in buying Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
However, over the past eight months, 5,238 teachers at girls’ community schools have not received their salaries.
276,000 students are enrolled in non-formal schools for girls in remote parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and their future is in jeopardy due to the non-payment of salaries to these institutions.
For several years, these schools have operated under the direction of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (E&SEF).
The institutions have been established in remote areas without access to public schools.
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The 275 National Commission of Human Development (NCHD) schools, 541 basic education center schools (BECS), and 2,200 girls’ community schools employ unpaid teachers.
Teachers at these schools receive salaries of Rs 21,000. The provincial government has set a minimum wage of Rs 36,000 for unskilled labor.
Although the foundation needed Rs 2 billion to cover teachers’ salaries, the provincial government hesitated to provide the funds.
One of the teachers of girls’ community schools said that more effort was put forth by community school teachers than by regular government school teachers.
Because of its increased credibility, each GCS had between 100 and 300 students enrolled.
She said, “We are in trouble as we have not received our salaries since March.”
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The teacher claimed to be aware that the failure to pay teachers’ salaries had resulted in the closure of other GCS schools.
She went on to say that if the government didn’t pay teachers right now, there was a chance that additional schools may close.
While the provincial administration has not been paying teachers’ salaries, one instructor claims that the district program officers have made their lives unpleasant under various pretexts.
Faisal Tarakai, the minister of education, did not reply to the questions sent to him on WhatsApp about teachers’ unpaid salaries, as is customary.