Employment ban affects academic activities

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COMMENT
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DAWN, Sept 11, 2002

By Zar Alam Khan Rizakhail

THE continuing ban on appointments of teaching and non-
teaching staff for the last many years has badly affected
academic activities in Chitral district.
Besides, as many as eight primary and middle schools selected
for upgradation have not yet been upgraded despite completion of
the required buildings under the Tamir-i-Watan programme of the
last Nawaz Sharif regime.
The schools awaiting upgradation are situated in villages
Naghar, Khorkashan Deh, Washich, upper Kuju, Harchin, Potonian
Deh, Koghuzi and Reshun.
Last year, a sum of Rs6 million had been allocated for the
completion of various school expansion works in different parts
of the district which had been left halfway due to unavailability
of funds for the last many years.
The delay has affected academic standard at schools besides
causing innumerable hardships to schoolchildren, as many girls
could not continue education due to unavailability of separate
classrooms.
Newly-appointed Executive District Officer (education) Sher
Dil Aman told >>bs<>es<< that the PC-1 of the schemes had
been sent to the provincial government, which allocates funds
for the purpose under the annual development programme.
He said the projects would be executed under the government's
development and non-development priorities and in accordance
with available resources.
He said the absence of policy formulation regarding
appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff had created
problems for the department.
The official said the provincial government had reportedly
empowered the District Coordination Officer (DCO) to appoint
staff from scale 1 to 15 in the local health department, but
no such directive had been issued regarding the education
department.
He said owners of lands on which a number of school buildings
had been built were pressuring the department to provide them
employments as promised in lieu of their property.
The ban on appointments and transfers of teachers has created
an academic disequilibrium in all the educational institutions of
the district numbering over 700. The worst-hit are those in the
far-flung villages where lack of local staff coupled with the ban
on appointments and transfers has aggravated the situation.
Majority of the 45 secondary schools are operating without
headmasters as local teachers, according to education officials,
could not meet the requirements, including passing the public
service commission exams, to fill the posts. After crossing grade
18, the teachers are transferred out of the district as there are
only two posts of grade 19 and above in the district's schools.
A large number of government employees had been put on the
surplus pool in the province by the military regime and the
NWFP governor had issued an order that till the surplus pool
staff were readjusted no appointment would be made. The order
has, so far, not been withdrawn by the MMA government.