Teachers dismayed as time scale meeting postponed at last minute

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) on Tuesday postponed a meeting on the grant of time scale to teachers of Islamabad's government schools and colleges at the eleventh hour to the dismay of the relevant officials and teachers.

The meeting's postponement has happened for the third time during the last one month. The meeting was first slated to happen on December 12, 2017, but was deferred to December 14 but even then, it didn't take place. Afterwards, the meeting was scheduled for January 9 but it was not held with the relevant officials unaware about when it will happen now.

The CADD oversees Islamabad’s government schools and colleges through the Federal Directorate of Education. An official in the know insisted that the CADD additional secretary, who headed the time scale panel, was busy with some interviews at the Federal Public Service Commission. He said the new dates for the meeting would be announced afterwards. The teachers awaiting time scale resented the meeting's postponement for the third time and said they're let down by the long delay in the grant of time scale. "There is a growing resentment among teachers of the Federal Directorate of Education schools and colleges, especially those from the FG set-up, over inordinate delay in the grant of time scale, which has been due for the last over seven years," a teacher told 'The News'. He said the teachers, who had rendered more than 15 years of service in the same nomenclature, continued to wait. "This is strange since the rules allow the administration to hold the promotion meetings twice a year but as the head of the FDE has been appointed from the outside of the system, violating the recruitment rules for the appointment of the director general, he is least concerned about the issues of teachers," he said. A leader of the Federal Government College Teachers Association said the wait for the grant of time scale had got longer despite the assurances from the FDE and CADD officials. He said the last meeting of the time scale committee was held in 2012 when teachers of schools and colleges were granted time scale for the first time.

Besides, 17 librarians has also been awaiting elevation to the next grade since the inception of time-scale scheme in the FDE. "In the absence of any cadre review, the librarians are the worst sufferers in term of promotion. "Had the CADD administration been willing, the librarians would have granted the next scale by now," a librarian said. A teacher said under the time-scale notification issued in 2011 under the directions of the then prime minister, a lecturer was bound to get at least five years service in BPS-17 to get BPS-18. He said an assistant professor was required to serve seven years in BPS-18 to get eligibility for BPS-19, while an associate professor had to serve five years in BPS-19 to be eligible for BPS-20 and a professor had to serve five years in BPS-20 to get BPS-21. The teacher said following that, the scheme as many as 778 cases of various cadres of teachers were submitted to the CADD for the grant of time-scale in July 2017.