FDE plans hiring of teachers on contractual basis

Islamabad :The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has formally contacted the Establishment Division to seek no-objection certificate for the hiring of teachers on contractual basis to fill dozens of BPS-16 and BPS-17 vacancies in Islamabad's government schools.

Recently, the Federal Directorate Education (FDE) sought the mandatory permission of the CADD, which has its administrative control, for appointments to 141 teacher vacancies in BPS-16 and BPS-17, including those already referred to the Federal Public Service Commission for test/interview.

Overseeing 423 public sector educational institutions offering courses from Prep to postgraduate level in Islamabad’s rural and urban areas, the directorate insisted that increase in the city’s population, migration from other cities, demographic transition, enrolment campaign and enactment of the Right to Free and Compulsory Act, 2012, had resulted in a rapid and substantial increase in the number of entrants to local schools and colleges.

However, educational institutions don’t have enough teaching staff to cope with the situation. According to it, up-gradation of the existing schools and construction of new ones have also added to the problem on account of the cumbersome and technical processes involved in the creation of the required posts. As a result, schools are mostly run on contingency basis by pulling out staff from the existing educational institutions.

Also, the retirement of teachers and availing of the mandatory leaves by the staff such as maternity leaves, medical leaves and special (iddat) has aggravated the situation where the onus for provision of substitutes always lies with the FDE.

“There had been a practice of hiring staff in the FDE either on daily wage basis or short-term basis against leave vacancies. This, however, is no more a viable option in the wake of a ban imposed by the government on such appointments and the entailed liability of regularisation of services of the incumbents appointed in such a manner,” it said.

The FDE said its schools had 17 vacancies of female FG college lecturers (BPS-17), seven of male FG college lecturers (BPS-17), 46 of male model college lecturers (BPS-17), 35 of female model college lecturers (BPS-17), three of male senior school teachers (BPS-17), 22 of male trained graduate school teachers (BPS-6) and 11 of male school drawing masters (BPS-16).

It requested the CADD to give the green light for the filling of the vacancies in question for a period of one year extendable for another year or until the appointment of regular employees through the FPSC.

The FDE made it clear that it didn't need additional funds for the purpose and would manage the requisite expenditure by the available budgetary allocations. Now, the CADD has written to the Establishment Division for its early NOC to the hiring of teaching staff on contractual basis against vacant posts on ‘standard terms and conditions as specified for such recruitment in the Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer) Rules, 1973’ hoping for early positive response.

The Young Teachers Association, whose case on the regularisation of Islamabad’s around 2,000 daily-wage teachers has been pending the local high court's verdict, said it had no objection to the FDE’s move to hire contractual teaching staff as it promised job security to the teachers long working on daily wage basis in Islamabad’s schools with an uncertain future.