'Teachers' Day merely a ploy to mint money'

President SPLA Karachi Region, Professor Athar Hussain Mirza, while talking to The Nation on Sunday, said that the SPLA was not interested in celebrating the occasion because this was nothing except illusion. He further said that during the last 10 years hundreds of teachers had suffered detention, police tortures, tear gas shelling, baton charge and show-cause notices on account of their right demands.

“This is a great joke. The education department is also celebrating the day while corruption is on the rise there. Only 2,500 teachers are providing their services in 123 government colleges of the city where more than 10,000 teachers are needed to do so. The government officials and politicians also pay tributes to teachers and say that we should respect the teachers, but in election duties such people forgave the dignity of the teachers. Conversely, the teachers are suffering with low salaries and low job security, despite the important role of the teachers in making progress of any society. The colleges of the city are insufficient in numbers to fulfil the need of more than 16 million population of the metropolis; hence the students also suffered overcrowded classrooms”, he added.