Over 90 teaching, non-teaching posts okayed for girls college

Islamabad : The Planning Commission has set the ball rolling for the start of new degree courses at the Islamabad Model College for Girls, Humak, by approving PC-IV and recommending 91 posts of teaching and non-teaching staff members.

The recruitment will be made after the finance ministry’s formal consent.

The PC-IV and posts approval comes in light of a report filed by an evaluation team of the Planning Commission’s Project Wing on ‘Expansion of Educational Facilities in IMCG Humak’ following a visit to the college to check the project’s ‘physical achievements’. Deputy Director (Evaluation) Sajjad Jan Khattak led the team.

While inaugurating the college on January 10, 2007, the then prime minister, on the demand of the residents of Sihala region, had announced the construction of 16 new classrooms, six science labs, one auditorium, library, cafeteria and hostel for teachers each, Class IV residences, and a guard room on the premises.

Shortly thereafter, the announcement was formally turned into a development project on the orders of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat (Public).

The initiative was called ‘Expansion of Educational Facilities in F.G Fatima Jinnah Degree College for Women at Model Town Humak Islamabad Including Science Block and Commencement of Classes’. Its objective was to provide degree-level education to girls in the rural and suburban area of Sihala sector, including Model Town Humak, Pind Malkan, Sihala, Rawat, Mora Nagial, DHA, Suwan Camp, Dhoke Aiwan, Gora Syedan, Kaak Pul, Herdogahar, Chakiyan, Panyali, Sihala Bagh, Miana Thab Mughal, Bhandar, Japani Road, Bhimbhar Tarar, Bahria Town, PWD Society, River Garden, Korang Town, Jinnah Garden, Navel Anchorage, Koral Chowk and Kahuta Research Laboratories areas, which didn’t have a girls degree college.

The sector is a densely-populated area due to the concentration of private residential schemes and the IMCG Humak is the first girls’ degree college established there by the Federal Directorate of Education, which caters for the academic needs of Islamabad Capital Territory in the public sector.

The Rs 119.038 million worth of project was approved by the Central Development Working Party on November 26, 2007, with the execution time set for 36 months started on July 2007.

The civil work began in 2007 and was completed in June 2015. A long delay in the release of funds hampered its completion. Currently, the college has 1,317 students in FA/FSc and BA courses.

The Planning Commission’s Evaluation Team learnt during the visit that the IMCG Humak had the physical capacity to enrol more students but due to a shortage of teachers, the college’s administration had been denying admission to a large number of students.

According to the PC-IV report, making the college effectively functional with the existing available facilities is indeed a challenging task.

“The teaching faculty is direly needed to enhance the enrolment capacity of the college. The commencement of the four-year BS programme with a limited number of teaching faculty is not possible at this stage. However, after the creation of new posts of teachers and supporting staff, the issue of shortage of teaching staff in the college will be resolved for the improvement of the quality of education through balancing the teacher-student ratio.”

The report said the projects related to the education sector were of high importance but unfortunately, the execution of such projects was seldom taken seriously.

It added that the projects were required to be executed within their stipulated time period so that the benefits could be transmitted to the end-users without waste of energy, resources and time.

The Evaluation Section, after conducting a detailed analysis recommended that 91 positions of teaching and non-teaching staff be provided to the college to meet the present requirement of intermediate and degree level classes of the college to cater to educational needs of the populated Sihala sector.

Atiqur Rehman, a resident of Soan Garden, said many girls of the area abandoned formal education after passing secondary classes prior to 2007 for having no college in the area.

“When this college opened its doors to us, the daughters of the area, we felt grateful.

The only deficiency in this college is the shortage of teachers in various subjects. The government should provide the teachers to this college on an urgent basis,” she said.

Principal Sadia Muzaffar hailed the recommendation for staff appointment to the college.

“The current staff members are overburdened with work due to the shortage of teachers. We wanted to start many disciplines in the past but couldn’t do so. With the induction of new teachers and supporting staff, we will be able to introduce new disciplines in the four-year BS programme and provide quality education to the students of this area.”

She said the college had a shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff members and funds but even then, its students faired really well in exams.

Professor Tahir Mahmood, a former president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association, hailed the development and said he expected that FDE director general FDE Dr Ikram Ali Malik would ensure the early approval of 91 new posts of Humak college by the finance ministry to further the cause of girls education in Sihala sector.