5 months on, still no salaries for thousands of intern teachers

Lahore: Hired for filling the space of full time teachers, College Teaching Interns (CTI) are working without salary for the last five months, a private news source reported.

Large number of College Teaching Interns, who are fresh graduates, is passing through severe financial crisis because of the non-payment of salaries.

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In September 2016, the Punjab Higher Education Department (PHED) decided to appoint fresh graduates on monthly income of Rs 30,000 to overcome the shortage of lecturers and teachers at government colleges across the province.

In a recent development about the provision of salary to the CTIs, the section officer (Budget and Finance) of Higher Education commission wrote a letter to the Director Public Instructions (DPI) informing him the College Teaching Interns hired for the academic session 2016-17 were still waiting for their incomes.

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Moreover, the DPI was requested to provide budget information as well as other responsibilities according to the set format.

A lot of College Teaching Interns have demanded Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to ensure payment of their monthly incomes as promised.

They claimed that they were serving the nation by teaching future builders however non-payment of their salaries had brought down their inspiration.

A trainee teacher, on basis of secrecy, told media sources that he was hired by a college soon after he completed his graduation and was expecting that he will get Rs 30,000 per month, which according to him was enough to run his monthly expenditures.

"However, now I am getting money from my parents as I have not been paid for the last 5 months," he said and asked how can one expect from a person to work for the complete day without getting a single penny.