Education department: Feud leaves 26,000 posts vacant

Minister and secretary have difference of opinion over appointment of staff

KARACHI: Though the ban has been lifted on appointments in government departments, the appointment of 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in the education department has been delayed due to differences between education minister Jam Mahtab Dahar and secretary Fazllulah Pechuho, combined with the government’s delay in approving the new recruitment rules and policy.

According to officials in the education department, there are 19,000 teaching and 7,000 non-teaching vacancies in the Sindh education department. Apart from teachers, the secretary wants to induct non-teaching staff through National Testing Services and Institute of Business Administration exams but Dahar rejected this proposal and asked him to fill these vacancies through traditional practices - by giving powers to divisional and district level officers to appoint junior clerks, clerks, assistants and librarians etc.

“More than 13,000 fake appointment orders were issued between 2011 2012. People who cannot even read or fill out the application were appointed,” said a senior bureaucrat on the condition of anonymity. “The secretary, who is working with the World Bank and other donor agencies, wants to fill all the positions except for peons and watchmen through online exams but he has faced stiff resistance on it,” he said, adding that transfer and postings in the education department have been a bone of contention between the minister and secretary.

“Dahar has lodged a complaint with Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, who has summoned Pechuho to Dubai,” disclosed the official. Citing the reason for the delay in the appointment, sources said that the education department has prepared new rules for the recruitment of teachers and sent the same to the public service commission and a draft of the new recruitment policy is awaiting the chief minister’s approval. “Nothing can be done until the CM gives his nod to the policy,” explained an official in the government.

A few days ago, Dahar and Pechuho spoke to the media and denied having any differences on the appointment of teachers or transfers of officials. “We are making efforts to ensure transparency in each and every appointment that is why I am personally in favour of the appointment of non-teaching staff through proper exams to be conducted by third parties,” Pechuho said.

Dahar was unavailable for comments, despite repeated attempts to contact him. However, his spokesperson refuted claims of differences with Pechuho. “From the chief minister to education minister, all have agreed to fill the vacancies on merit,” he said, adding that many things are in the pipeline and it takes little time to complete the procedure for competitive exams for teachers. “The department will soon announce the vacancies, compared to the past when this rule was not followed,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2016.