Govt School teachers quit due to non-payment of salaries. By Amjad Iqbal

Govt School teachers quit due to non-payment of salaries. By Amjad Iqbal

TAXILA: Teaching Staff for students in the second shift at the Government Girls High School Burhan, Hasanabdal, have quit after being denied salaries for the last 18 months. 

the second shift teaching staff at the school consisted of four teachers and a head teacher who taught about 100 girls. A student of the 9th grade, Fatima Bibi told Dawn that she comes to the school in the evening and that there are 30 other girls in her class. She said all the students in the second shift particularly come from low income families and cannot afford private school. A student of the 10th grade, Shazia, said they have not a had any classes the last two weeks because the teaching staff left. we had dreamy of a new Pakistan where our children will get education but now even the existing facilities are being discontinued and the future is uncertain, said a parent, Sultan Mehmood. 

He said families cannot send their girls to schools in other areas due to cultural restrictions. Students have urged the provincial and district education authorities to look into the issue and resolve the problem of teachers salaries so girls in the area can get an education.  A Teacher at the school said they had been employed for the second shift which was started to accommodate the extra strength and that the five-member teaching staff had been working for two years but were not paid salaries the last 18 months. She said the teachers had decided to not come in form Oct 1. Chief Executive Officer Education Tahir Kashif told Down the teachers were appointed in a World Bank sponsored project for improving female education in the rural areas and that funds were allocated under the Program Monitoring and implementation Unit of the Punjab education department. He said the funds were exhausted which is why the teachers salaries could not be released. Mr Kashif said the matter has been brought to the notice of the district education authorities and that  arrangements are being made to release the teachers salaries form the not-salary budget till proper funds for their salaries are released.

Saudi Arabia warns US of Retaliation.

Saudi Arabia warns US of Retaliation.

Saudi Arabia warns against threats to punish it over disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as us and European allies pile on pressure. US president Donald Trump recently warned Riyadh of severe punishment' if it emerges the journalist was murdered in Istanbul's Saudi consulate.

Painful decisions ahead, warns Asad on return from Bali.

Painful decisions ahead, warns Asad on return from Bali.

IMF mission due on Nov 7, CPEC not at blame for debt crisis. By khaleeq Kiani

ISLAMABAD: Finance minister Asad Umar on Saturday said the government will have to take difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessary under international commitments to get out of the current severe economic situation. 

Speaking at a nes conference after his return form Indonesia where he formally applied for the IMF bailout, the minister rebutted the narrative in the Trump administration that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was responsible for Pakistan's debt problems and the need for IMF bailout and said talks with Saudi Arabia for oil supplies on deferred payments were in progress. He said the government would have to make a stop-gap arrangement for external financial resources to support foreign exchange reserves until the IMF programme was finalized. An exercise for short-term borrowing was in the process for the prime minister's approval. 

The minister said the US was a key stakeholder in the IMF with about 16.5 per cent votes but enjoyed no veto power in its decision making that required majority 51pc votes. he said no government in Pakistan irrespective of any political background could compromise on national security and the PTI government, too, would not opt for an IMF programme if conditionals are of that nature.

He was responding to a question related to comments by US State. Continued.