Leadership crisis at FDE persists as IHC’s deadline looms

Islamabad: The Federal Ministry of Education has just one month left to appoint a regular director general to the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) in line with Islamabad High Court’s directives.

A Division Bench had ordered the top FDE appointment under the Civil Servants Act, 1973, and the Appointment, Promotion, and Transfer Rules, 1973, within two months, with a compliance report submitted in chambers.

A controversy emerged recently when the ministry, bypassing the Federal Public Service Commission, advertised the DG (BS-21) post in national newspapers on a three-year contractual basis.

Among the candidates was Dr Samia Rehman Dogar, a BS-20 professor at the Federal College of Education, who was rejected at the initial stage. She challenged the advertisement with the IHC, arguing that no validly notified rules existed at that time and that the FPSC had already refused to endorse the draft recruitment rules due to regulatory flaws.

The court upheld her arguments, declaring that the ministry’s advertisement was issued ‘without legal authority’ and therefore void ab initio.

It quashed the advertisement and ordered termination of any ongoing recruitment process under it. The deadlock was resolved after fresh recruitment rules were notified on August 13, 2025, with the concurrence of both the Establishment Division and FPSC, providing the sole legal basis for appointments to the DG post and rectified earlier deficiencies.

Thereafter, the IHC directed authorities to strictly adhere to the new rules and ensure FPSC leads the process transparently.

Now with one month remaining to the expiry of the deadline, stakeholders are closely watching whether the ministry and FPSC will complete the appointment process in time.

Meanwhile, the prolonged absence of a regular DG and other key directors has thrown Islamabad’s public education system into disarray. The 437 educational institutions regulated by the FDE, including 393 schools, 13 FG colleges and 26 model colleges, have been struggling with administrative confusion, abrupt policy shifts and declining performance since July 2023.

In the absence of a permanent DG, a joint secretary at the ministry has been overseeing the FDE’s affairs in addition to his own ministerial responsibilities.

This dual-role management is widely criticised as inefficient and detrimental to governance.

Also, key FDE director-level posts are filled on ad-hoc basis by individuals already burdened with their own jobs. For example, Shahid Mehmood Abbasi, Principal of IMCB I-8/3, is simultaneously serving as Director Colleges; Ms. Riffat Jabeen, a school officer, is acting as Director Academics; and Dr. Muhammad Yaseen Afaqi, Principal of ICB, is functioning as Deputy DG.

According to the teachers, this patchwork arrangement has crippled routine operations. They said adhocism was paralysing functioning of the FDE.