service at the inter board office as the new chairman of the BSEK for the next three years.
Similarly, in the first week of June, the CM had also issued a notification under which the former education secretary Akhtar Ghauri, currently working as secretary to the governor, was appointed as the new BIEK chairman.
Both the CM and the governor were appointing retired persons as heads of the educational boards’ in violation of the Supreme Court’s orders, while also sidelining those officials deserving of the promotions.
Criticism from academic associations
The decisions of the CM and governor have since drawn condemnation from academic circles, with representatives of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association (SPLA) and the Sindh Retired Professors Association (SPRA) leading the outcry.
SPLA Karachi President Ferozuddin Ahmed Siddiqui demanded that the government appoint educationists and serving officers as chairmen of examination boards. “If the provincial government cannot find any people for these administrative posts, they should hire educationists who have recently retired as Grade 20 officers,” he suggested.
As for the recent appointments, Siddiqui said the SPLA had always rejected the idea of re-appointing retired officers as such methods greatly discouraged others in the service.
Similarly, Professor Saeed-uz-Zafar, the convener for SRPA, also strongly condemned the decisions of the CM and governor as per which the appointments of Fasihuddin Khan, Anwar Ahmed Zai and Akhtar Ghauri were finalised. “These recent appointments are evidence of the government’s policy of favouritism and nepotism,” he said.
Prof Zafar, who was also the president of the Government College Principals Association, said he had always opposed the appointment of retired people. “They have completed their service and now it is time for others to step up and lead these departments. By re-appointing retired officers, the government gives off the impression that we do not have any other qualified people and only these few individuals can handle the job,” he said.
“If the government does not allow other competent officers in the education sector to develop professionally, then how will there ever be real progress in this sector?”