FDE-run educational institutions finding it hard to maintain premises

Islamabad : The management of various educational institutions working under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is finding it difficult to upkeep premises of their institutions due to shortage of low-ranking staff.

The FDE sources said that 60% of posts of lower scale (class four) employees including gardeners, sweepers, and others are lying vacant for the last four to five years due to various reasons. “We have reminded the FDE officials of our problems regarding daily maintenance and cleanliness of premises but to no avail,” the principal of a school on condition of anonymity told ‘The News’.

The principal said that no recruitment of class four employees on daily wages, contractual or regular basis have been made in the last four to five years. “The problem multiplies during months of July, August, and September when there is wild growth in lawns of our schools due to availability of gardeners only once or twice a week,” the Principal complained.

He said that there are four to five gardeners and a few sweepers hired by the management of the institution on their own resources for every cluster of 9 to 10 schools. “Then how we can keep our schools’ premises clean and maintained,” he said.

A senior officer in the Administration Wing of FDE when contacted said that they have not been able to recruit any class four employees in the last four years due to litigation problems. “Now when the litigation issues are over, we are preparing to make new recruitments,” he said.

None of the other responsible FDE officials was available to respond to queries of this correspondent as Directorate is currently without any official spokesman at present.