Pakistan: Teachers in Balochistan boycott matriculation exams, demand pay hike

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 11 : The protesting teachers of Balochistan on Friday boycotted matriculation exams in favour of their demands, said the provincial education department.
The teachers under the banner of Balochistan Employees and Workers Grand Alliance have been protesting and demanding a pay increase, reported Pakistan Observer.
A large number of students were witnessed outside different schools in Chaman. The students kept waiting on for their paper of Arts, but teachers did not show up, the education department spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a partial boycott of the matriculation examination was witnessed in various parts of the province, reported Pakistan Observer.
Teachers have vowed to continue their sit-in until their demands are met.
A spokesman for the Balochistan Employees and Workers Grand Alliance said that the sit-in would continue till the acceptance of their demand.
Meanwhile, in early April, Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan was cut off from other parts of the country due to the ongoing demonstrations by government employees demanding salary hikes.
Last week, the provincial government in Balochistan imposed Section 144 in Quetta district for two weeks to ban all public gatherings after a sit-in protest call was given by the Teachers' Association.
Last month, hundreds of teachers had held a protest demanding salary hikes in Muzaffarabad city of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Threatening to boycott all government duties, including election work, the teachers urged the government to fulfil their demands.