The government of NWFP is working on separation of management and teaching cadres in the department of Education to resolve the hurdles in the promotion of education in the province. This was disclosed by NWFP Minister for Education, Sardar Hussein Babak in reply to questions raised by members during NWFP Assembly during session on adjournment motion here on Wednesday.
In reply to the questions raised by members from both treasury and opposition benches, particularly, relating to the postings and transfers in the department, he said that members usually complaints that officers in their concerned districts were being made without their consult.
Identifying the posts of the Executive District Officer (EDO) Education responsible for the prevailing situation, he said that inability of the EDO is the main hurdle in the smooth functioning of the department, adding that department has sufficient number of competent officers and separation of management and teaching cadres would help resolve the problem.
Furthermore, he said that policy of the government is the provision of quality education to the students. "The government will not tolerate any kind of nepotism and is determined not to make any compromise in this regard." Babak made it clear. He defended the recruitment formula of 40 per cent postings on union council level and 60 per cent on merit, adding that majority of the teachers are lacking the described qualification, which he attributed to sheer injustice with the students.
Regarding thousands of vacant posts of teachers in the province, he said that most of the district had advertised recruitment for the posts of Primary School Teacher (PST). He requested the members to specify the names of those schools, which are closed due to the lack of staff. He said that the government is strictly adhering to the merit policy and credited the coalition government of ANP-PPP in the province for exhibiting transparency in the recruitment of Subject Specialists (SS) and Senior English Teachers (SETs) in the province. "No one has lodged complaint of the violation of merit in these recruitments," claimed the minister.
The minister requested the house to extend support him through not pressurizing him in connections with transfers and postings. He said that the government had banned postings and transfers in the education department. However, pledged that he would fulfil the promises made with the members in the house. Earlier, more than dozen members from both treasury and opposition benches complained regarding thousands of vacant posts of teachers in the education department. Some attributed the closure of the schools towards the lack of staff. However, the minister refused to agree with the contentions.
The mover of the adjournment motion, Javed Abbassi of PML-N complained regarding 500 vacant posts in district Abbottabad. He said that the lack of staff is depriving children of their education.
He attributed the situation to the formula for fresh recruitment adopted by the government. Speaking over the matter senior parliamentarian, Abdul Akbar Khan of PPP that government is spending major portion of the annual budget on the department. These spending he said are being made in salary sector as well as in development sector.
He said that despite the construction of buildings for schools they remained unutilised and attributed it to the procedure of recruitment. He said that Public Service Commission has been constituted in 1973 when the number of vacancy was nominal as compared to the present.
He further said that the increase in the capacity of the Provincial Public Service Commission (PPSC) and separating some recruitments from its purview. He supported the idea of giving priority to union council in the recruitment. He said that thousands of trained teachers are jobless.
Sikandar Irfan ANP, Iftikhar Shagai PPP, Alamgir Khan Khalil, Shazia Aurangzeb PML-N, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha PML-N, Jaffar Shah ANP, Malik Qasim MMA, Maulana Obaidullah ANP, Anwar Khan PPP, Malik Bacha Saleh PPP, Mufti Said Janan MMA, Sardar Shamoon Yar Khan PML-N, Sanjeed Yusuf PPP, Dr Haider Ali ANP, Zamin Khan PPP, Saqibullah Chamkani ANP, Nargis Sameen PML-Q, Attiq-ur-Rehman PPP-Sherpao, Israrullah Khan Gandapur and provincial Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussein also participated during the assembly session. The chair later adjourned the proceedings of the house till Thursday (today) 9:00 am.