CM keen on ridding education department of ghost employees

Vowing to completely do away with ghost teachers, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the provincial education system would be improved by bringing teachers back to the classrooms, on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a meeting held with minister education Jam Mehtab Dahar, chief secretary Rizwan Memon, secretary education Fazallullah Pechuho, principal secretary to CM Naveed Kamran Baloch, secretary finance Hassan Naqvi and others.

There has been enough talk of ghost teachers, it was time the menace was addressed once and for all, the CM asserted. He directed secretary education to take action against those still paying salaries to such employees.

On this, the CM was told that the education department had installed biometric system to identify ghost employees.

Murad further said he wanted teachers to be hired for schools specifically so as to meet the shortage of staff. “In some schools there were more teachers than required, while others had a shortage,” he said, directing the secretary education to prepare a plan for transfer of teachers accordingly.

He said it was the responsibility of the education department to ensure teachers returned to classrooms voluntarily and not forcibly.

Otherwise, he suggested the department handed over schools to educational institutes such as IBA and other well reputed organisations to run them with their own staff, but with funds provided by the government.

On the request of Minister Education Jam Mehtab Dahar the chief minister directed Pechuho to hire officials on management positions in the education department to effectively run school administrations.

The CM also urged Dahar to focus on teachers training, so as to hone their communication and teaching skills.

“The teachers need to adopt modern methods of teaching and refrain from punishing students because it only makes them want to run farther away from studies.”

The wrongful occupation of the Working Women Hostel of Women Development Department, in Shaheed Benazirabad by the police force to provide a house to the DIG, was also brought up in the meeting. The CM directed the chief secretary to speak to the provincial police chief and get the hostel vacated.