TIMERGARA: Students of government girls degree college, Timergara, on Sunday demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to fill vacant posts of science teachers in the college.

Talking to Dawn here, they complained due to lack of required number of science teachers students from different sections of FSc and BSc were made to sit in a single classroom, with most of them either standing or sitting on the ground.

Saweera Babar, a third year student, said 200 students were enrolled in BSc, who had to sit in one classroom, where seating arrangements were not adequate to accommodate all of them. As a result, she added, most students were forced to sit on the ground.

Sidra and Kainat, also students of BSc third year, said newcomers were facing difficulties in getting library cards due to which they were unable to get books.

`The college has only one bus for transporting hundreds of students from and to school, they maintained and demanded of the government to immediately provide staff and buses to the college.

The college principal, Shaheen Kausar, told Dawn on contact that the BSc third year class was overcrowded because college administration had converted 100 seats reserved for pre-engineering into pre-medical to meet parents` demand. `The directorcolleges has promised to provide a bus for the college,` she added.

Ms Kausar said as eight new posts had been sanctioned for the college they would be able to arrange two sections for students of BSc third year once the lack of staff was overcome.

She said as there was no other girls college within 40 kilometre area of the Timergara college students from far off areas of Lower Dir had been enrolled, leading to overcrowded classes.

The principal said directives had been issued to the clerical staff to provide the students with library cards without any hassle.

PROMOTION SOUGH T: The Pakhtunkhwa Colleges` Teachers Association (PCTA) on Sunday demanded of the provincial government to issue a proper notification regarding their one-step promotion, and approval of professional teaching, convince and hard areas allowances.

The association made the demands at a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance Muzafar Syed at Timergara.

The PCTA delegation was led by Prof Izaz Ali. They said teachers also faced difficulties while getting no objection certificate for PhD and MPhil research. They said the college teachers would start a protest campaign if the government failed to meet their demands within a week.

The minister assured them that the government would not disappoint them on their demands.