ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a startling revelation that Asif Public School System Rawalpindi— known for providing quality education— has deprived its teachers of their salaries for the last few months.
Sources told Pakistan Today that Asif Public Schools did not pay salaries to their teachers due to which they were left with no option but to leave the job.
They said that the staffers of the school constantly changed because of its troublesome pay mechanism, as the school management did not provide salaries to its staffers timely; hence the teachers did not stay in the school for long.
They said that dozens of teachers have yet to receive their salaries despite a lapse of few months, left the school and joined nearby schools in protest.
It is clearly written on its facebook page: “Mission of Asif Public School System Rawalpindi is to offer quality education from play group to higher secondary classes and O/A Levels, within a short span of time under qualified teachers. Asif Public School System is carried on in a caring, friendly and disciplined atmosphere, giving children the opportunity for optimum growth. Our mission is to foster excellence through knowledge, character, and integrity. We achieve this in a safe, warm, and supportive environment, blending a strong traditional education with a commitment to emergent and innovative best practices.
However, a teacher at Asif Primary Public School at 6th road Rawalpindi, seeking anonymity, told this scribe a different tale altogether. She said that the school system has well-disciplined hiring criteria, as one has to fill a performa before joining the school, wherein all the terms and conditions are clearly mentioned.
However, she said that when the school management wanted to fire someone they take little care of its own agreed terms and conditions and shown the door instantly.
She said that there was around 22-member teaching staff in the school, but most of them left the school en bloc in protest against delaying their salaries.
“I was being paid Rs 15,000 salary and I left the job in January; hence the school management has to pay me one-and-a-half-month salary amounting to Rs 23,000,” she added.
Another teacher tells a similar story that the school management is either delaying their salaries for months or is paying them in instalments.
Narrating her ordeal, the teacher said that she is in dire need of money while the school management is delaying the release of her two months pending salaries on various excuses.
“When we asked about our salaries from the principal of the school, she instantly replied if you people are need of money then don’t opt for teaching jobs and do something else,” she maintained.
Despite repeated attempts to contact Madam Bushra, principal of the school, for her comments on the issue, she could not be reached because she neither received the repeated calls nor she responded to the text messages.
When this scribe contacted Iftikhar, the school accountant, he confirmed that some teachers’ salaries are yet to be paid due to some problems. However, in the same vein, he said that they could visit anytime to get their salaries.
He said that at present all the staffers being paid salaries regularly by 10th or 12th of each month and efforts are afoot to make the system more effective.