The teachers of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) run educational institutions are facing difficulties as on Tuesday they had not been paid the monthly house rent allowance for the last one and half years due to the paucity of funds.
“My land lord has been demanding the rent since last month. I have not paid the rent for the past six months because the government has not released our rent allowance,” said Habib Ullah, a lecturer of H/9 College.
The teachers’ community has been pursuing the FDE and the Capital Administration and Development Division, which are supposed to look after the affairs of educational institutions, but have been unsuccessful in obtaining the stalled funds.
Federal Government College Teachers Association General Secretary Prof Tahir Mahmood said: “The professors and teachers are being humiliated by the owners of their houses on a daily basis.” He stated that the teachers and their families were under extreme stress as a result of the situation and many were suffering psychologically.
“We managed earlier by borrowing money from our friends and relatives or by taking out loans from banks. Now most of us have run out of money. Our landlords are threatening to throw us out if we do not pay our outstanding rent,” he added.
It is relevant to note here that the government is regularly paying house ceiling grants to all government employees, with the exception of the FDE teachers. Talking to Pakistan Today, Federal Government School Teachers Association President Azhar Awan said around five thousands school teachers were living in rented houses. He demanded that the government release the funds required and add the rent allowance for the coming months to the teachers’ salaries.
When contacted, FDE Director General Atif Kayani said he had moved a summary to the finance division to get a supplementary grant to pay the teachers their allowance.
Pakistan Today observed that due to the non-payment of funds, a majority of the teachers had shifted to the suburbs in search of low-rent housing. Since many had to now commute over large distances to reach their institutions, the added traveling time was adversely affecting their efficiency.
