Delay in issuance of promotion notification irks teachers

Islamabad: The teachers of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) colleges have expressed annoyance over the delay in issuance of their promotion notification for the last four months.

According to an official source, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MOFEPT) conducted a meeting of the Departmental Selection Board (DSB) on July 9, 2021, to promote Assistant Professors (BPS-18) to the position of Associate Professor (BPS-19).

The issuing of promotion notification after DSB meeting is a matter of a few days but the said notification could not be issued after the lapse of four months.

An official at MOFEPT on the condition of anonymity told that the matter got stuck on the back burner due to repeated objections on minutes raised by one of the members of DSB.

The teachers who have been waiting for their promotions expressed deep concern over this abnormal delay.

An Assistant Professor whose promotion case was considered in the DSB meeting said, “As teachers are ex-cadre officers and are not on the priority list of bureaucracy, nobody bothers about their promotion.”

"I feel if there is a will, the matter could be resolved within days but unfortunately bureaucratic hiccups and bottlenecks are hindering the promotion of teachers.”

When contacted, Dr Rahima Rahman, president of teachers association, said, “Promotion in upper grades is a formal traditional procedure of career progression and it has a trickledown effect.”

“In case of the promotion of teachers in BPS-19, the posts of BPS-18 vacated and teachers of BS-17 will get these occupied posts. When promotion does not materialize, it not only upset the concerned teachers but also the dynamic of the institutions they are part of. If teachers do perform their duties efficiently and truly for the cause of education, then in return, it is the utmost responsibility of the administration to protect their legal right of timely promotion,” she added. She demanded immediate issuance of promotion notification without any further delay.