JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Striking schoolteachers in the Surkhrud district of eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday said they would continue boycotting classes until authorities accepted their demands.
About 25 schoolteachers have been on strike over the past 10 days in protest against what they say powerful individuals have grabbed land plots allotted to them in the Syah Sang locality.
Their continued strike has been affecting some 22,000 students as their schools have been closed.
Ihsanullah Naizi, the head of Teachers’ Union, said the plots had been allotted to them by former president Hamid Karzai, but some powerful individuals had occupied them.
Provincial Council member Javed Zaman said the demands of teachers were legitimate and the government should meet them.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Asif Shinwari, the education department spokesman, confirmed some plots in the Syah Sang locality had been grabbed by powerful individuals.
He said the issue had been shared with the president and the officials concerned.
The governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, said the deputy governor had met the striking teachers and directed security forces to resolve the matter.
Students said the government should quickly resolve the issue so that they could resume studies.
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