Karachi:February 01:The jobs of thousands of teachers, whose three-year contract expired on Tuesday, were regularised through an ordinance on Tuesday, but only after they were given a good thrashing by the police during their march towards the Governor House.

Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad issued an ordinance to regularise the jobs of about 5,800 teachers, who had been hired on three-year contract by the Sindh Education Department after they cleared their tests conducted by the IBA and Sindh University.

Hundreds of them had been protesting at the press club for the past several days and had threatened to stage a demonstration in front of the Governor House and the Chief Minister House if they were not issued permanent job letters.

Earlier, an adviser to the education minister visited their camp to convince them that an ordinance would be issued sooner or later; however, the teachers refused to call off the protest and tried to enter the “red-zone” area. As soon as they started marching towards the Governor House, law enforcers lobbed teargas shells and turned their water cannon against the protesters. Chaotic scenes were witnessed as the protesting teachers ran for cover to save themselves for the gas and water. Serious traffic gridlocks were also observed in the adjoining areas.

Prior to the promulgation of the ordinance, Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq had advised the teachers to focus on their professional duties instead of getting entangled in rumours. He assured them that the government would soon issue a notification to regularise their jobs, adding: “These teachers should continue their work and in case they face any problem, they may directly approach me”.

He said the governor would soon issue an ordinance to regularise their jobs since the provincial assembly was not in session. “The democratic government does not want to delay the issuance of appointment letters for these teachers.”

After discussing the issue with the chief minister, the Education Department decided sending a summary to the governor so that he could issue an ordinance to regularise the services of these teachers.The news.