KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Hundreds of teachers in 10 districts of southeastern Khost province have been on strike, demanding residency plots, depriving tens of thousands of students of lessons.
The 10 districts include Spira, Dwa Manda, Nader Shah Kot, Ismail KhelMandozi, Musakhel, Qandar, Bak, ZazaiMaidan, SabriYaqubi and AlisherTrazi where teachers have been on strike since the past few days.
Hazrat Mohammad Hunaryar, a teacher in Khost city, told Pajhwok Afghan News they would start distributing plots themselves as promised by the government if their demand was not met.
“The officials are deceiving us and this is the sixth year work on the teacher township has not been started, however, we received decree from the president to receive the land,” he said.
RahmanGul, a teacher on behalf of SabariYaqubi district teachers, told Pajhwok that legal procedures for their township had been done in Khost, but work was being delayed by the Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Interior.
He added: “The teachers are forced to continue their strike because the officials do not start their work and it will continue until the work is launched,”
At the same time, students say they have been coming to schools for the past few days, but teachers are not teaching them and are wasting their time.
Fahim and HazratWali, two students, told Pajhwok: “The teachers’ strike is negatively impacting our lessons, especially of high schools students.”
On the other hand, Naseer Ahmad Roshan, director of education in Khost, warned that any teacher who did not attend school on time would be count absent.
He told Pajhwok that disrupting the education process was cruelty to students, as teachers were paid a certain amount in return for teaching.
According to the director of education, the number of students who have been deprived of education as a result of the teachers' strike has reached 220,000.
Sa/ma
