Junior section model college teachers demand promotion formula

Islamabad: The Central Academic Staff Association members met Irfan Siddiqui, key adviser to the prime minister and head of the national history and literary heritage division, to seek his support and intervention for the early formulation and enforcement of a promotion formula for women teachers of Islamabad model colleges’ junior sections by the Federal Directorate of Education.

Currently, a four-tier formula is in place for the promotion of the teachers working at the FDE model colleges (senior sections), suggesting 50 per cent of these teachers should be lecturers (BPS-17), 34 per cent assistant professors (BPS-18), 15 per cent associate professors (BPS-19) and one per cent professors (BPS-20).

During the meeting with Irfan Siddiqui, the visitors led by CASA Vice President Farzana Akram highlighted the frustration of the model colleges’ junior women teachers at the prolonged denial of promotion.

They said women teachers in question felt discriminated against when they looked at the FDE attitude and policies towards their senior contemporaries.

The CASA members insisted teachers of model colleges’ senior sections totaling around 900 had 10 BPS-20 posts available to them but ironically, teachers of junior sections totaling more than 600 had just one post i.e. BPS-20.

They said around 90 per cent of junior teachers were in BPS-16 and BPS-17, less than 0.1 per cent in BPS-18, 0.03 per cent in BPS-19 and 0.001 per cent in BPS-20(only one teacher).

The visitors said the situation was so depressing that many competent teachers with post-graduation and even higher qualifications had abandoned the government job to join private organisations for attractive pay and privilege package and better growth opportunities, while many more had planned to follow suit.

They demanded a promotion formula for the model colleges’ junior teachers similar to the one in effect for senior teachers, saying this will help further the cause of education in Islamabad. The PM’s adviser assured them that he would do whatever was possible to address their grievances.