PESHAWAR    -    Protest by the teachers of state-run primary schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have turned serious as the teachers have went on boycott of classes at government schools. Currently, the primary schoolteacher is recruited in basic pay scale-12, but the All Primary Teachers Association demands upgradation from BS-12 to BS-15. The teachers are also angered at Thursday’s baton-charge by police on their rally. On Friday, the teachers staged protest demonstration at Jinnah Park on the second day of their protest campaign and the rally continued till the filing of this report. Speaking to this correspondent, APTA president for Town-IV Sahibzada Muhammad Nadeem said that initially primary teachers had been recruited in pay scale-12. However, he claimed, that in the year 2018, the government raised the criterion for teachers’ appointment to B.A/B.Sc and also nullified the PTC degree that used to be a criterion for teachers appointment. “After the government raised the education requirement for selection, we demanded that the scale should also be upgraded to 15 and even the ministers agreed verbally on this during subsequent meetings,” he claimed. “Now that we are staging demos and demanding our right of upgradation and further promotions of primary teachers up to scale16 and 17 during their service tenures, the government and police baton-charge teachers,” he added. Another teacher at the rally complained said that monthly pensions of teachers had also been reduced, which they opposed. He said that a pension worth Rs60,000 had been reduced up to Rs40000. He said more than 20 had been arrested during the protest. This correspondent contacted KP Minister for Education Shahram Khan and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, but both the KP government functionaries remained silent on the issue. There was no headway in the deadlock and no government representative had arrived at Jinnah Park to negotiate with the demonstrators till the filing of this report late evening.