The Punjab government had allocated Rs1.613 billion for such schools in 2021-2022 but the amount has not been utilised, leaving the teachers high and dry. The teachers allege that Secretary Literacy Wajihuddin Kundi has not helped them, reports Dawn News.

Azra Bibi told Dawn News she had to travel a good two-kilometre distance for the non-formal school she works for and had not been paid a penny for two years.

She said she did grocery from a shop on the promise of delayed payment and was unable to clear the debt.

She is also struggling to pay her utility bills due to financial crunch.

She said many teachers went to Lahore and Islamabad for protest last year but the government officials placated them with empty promises.

Shamim Bibi told the Pakistani newspaper that she was a graduate and took permission from her parents to do the job.

She said her husband had asked her to leave the job which had no salary or and any other benefit.

A source told Dawn News the Council of Common Interests (CCI) handed over the BECS and NCHD schools being run by the federal government to the provincial government back in 2020 but since then, the teachers had been facing financial problems.

The teachers have requested Chief Minister Parvez Elahi to release the salaries with a raise and regularise their jobs so that they could perform their duties.

The teachers even appealed to the Supreme Court chief justice to take notice of their plight.

Director General Literacy Bashir Ahmed Goraya told Dawn that the process of salaries had been completed and the payments would be made within a few weeks. He said the federal government handed over these projects to the literacy department and it would pay the salaries after necessary verifications.

He also promised a raise for the teachers.