ISLAMABAD - Taking notice of the low pay scale of teachers at a school in Sargodha, Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed the administration to ensure the payment of salaries to teachers at par with other cities of the province.
Hearing a case regarding the lack of facilities in the educational institutions, the chief justice said low salary stands in conflict with the Constitution. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja said: “The Constitution is a thing to be implemented.”
The chief justice asserted that fee of the educational institutions will not be allowed to enhance even by a rupee. Calling to submit a report on an overall educational situation in three days, the court adjourned the hearing till August 9. The Nation Monitoring adds: The Supreme Court ordered the four provinces and the Islamabad administration to submit details of facilities available in government schools.
Hearing a suo moto case relating to a girls school functioning in a graveyard in Gujranwala, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry expressed concern over spending of a huge amount on the Daanish School System in Punjab at the cost of government schools that lacked basic facilities.
The court observed that the provincial government’s plan breached Article 25-A of the Constitution which recognised education as a fundamental right of every citizen.
 “The Punjab government has allocated billions of rupees for distribution of laptops but girls are compelled to study in the graveyard. It is unfortunate that education is not our prime priority,” the chief justice said.
 “It is a good opportunity for the court to interpret Article 25-A which states that education is a fundamental right of every citizen. The Gujranwala school be upgraded as Daanish School otherwise all Daanish Schools will be sealed off,” he added.