Police use water cannons to disperse teachers' protest in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Police used water cannons to disperse Basic Education Community Schools (BESC) teachers on Wednesday at D-Chowk.

The BESC teachers were protesting over non-payment of salaries. They also demanded the government to upgrade their status as permanent employees.

When the government called on the teachers to end their protest, they started marching towards the Parliament House. Police used water cannons to halt protesters.

The defiant teachers said that their protest would continue till their demands were not accepted by the government.

“We have taught children in far-flung areas,” said one teacher. “Compensation is our right.”

Another teacher said that he had not received compensation since the past eight months.

The BECS teachers said that no government representative came to their sit-in protest to negotiate terms with them. They said that till their demands weren’t met, their sit-in protest at D-Chowk would continue.