Islamabad: Teachers of Islamabad's educational institutions regulated by the Federal Directorate of Education complain about a delay of more than two years in the grant of higher time scales to them.
According to them, under the time scale policy of the government, teachers are granted a higher time scale after completing a certain time period in their respective grades. Once the teachers have completed a specific time period, they become eligible for the next higher grade. The time scale is meant to recognise the hard work and dedication of the teachers and provide them with opportunities for career advancement.
Professor Farhan Azam, senior vice president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) said, “The last meeting on time scale was held on March 5, 2020, to consider the cases of teachers in 18-20 grades. Two years have passed to it but the teachers are still waiting for the higher time scale."
She also complained that the teachers regularised through a cabinet committee are also deprived of their due time scale for a long time.
"There should be a clear timeline for promotions to avoid delays and ensure that teachers are recognised for their hard work in a timely manner. It is important for the administration to prioritise the timely and fair promotion of teachers, to ensure that they are motivated and able to provide quality education to students," she said.
Dr. Nazir Ahmed Bhutta, general secretary of FGCTA said if the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training didn't hold the meeting of the time scale committee up to March 31, things would change leading to the fresh preparation of time scale cases. "In order to prepare the time scale cases once again, new performance evaluation reports (PERS) of the teachers for the year 2022 will be required to update the quantifications. As PERs for the year 2022 have not been completely prepared by the heads of the educational institutions, it will take some time to complete the process of preparation of cases," he said.
Dr. Nazir said there were concerns of the teachers that some of them might eventually retire without getting the benefit of the time scale due to a delay in holding the time scale meeting. Anum Kaleem, the joint secretary of FGCTA, said the timely promotion was a basic right of a government servant, and it was the responsibility of the department to recognize it and take appropriate actions to address it.
He said the delay in promotions not only affected the teachers' job satisfaction but also had a negative impact on the education system, as demotivated and dissatisfied teachers might not be able to provide quality education to students.
"It is important for the authorities to take immediate action and resolve the time scale issues of the teachers to ensure a smooth and efficient education system," he said. Dr Jabir Hussain, the information secretary of FGCTA, said repeated requests to authorities for the resolution of the issue fell on deaf ears.
He urged the education minister to intervene to ensure the holding of the time-scale meeting before March 31 to the relief of teachers awaiting promotion.