All dressed up and nowhere to teach

KARACHI: Candidates in five towns of Karachi, who passed the Primary School Teacher’s (PST) test, might be in for a rude shock, as officials in the district officer education department revealed that there are no vacancies in their schools.

A list of the 410 successful candidates was made public on May 13, but these candidates were from 13 of the city’s 18 towns. People in Gulberg, Shah Faisal, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad and Jamshed towns are still waiting for their areas’ final recruitment lists. But if the formula of the Reforms Support Unit (RSU), a World Bank (WB) supported initiative, is being followed to the book, then there are no vacancies in these five towns’ schools, reported the officials.

An RSU official said that they are helping to recruit teachers under the programme, which is being carried out with the financial help from the European Union and WB. Their team is monitoring the various reforms being undertaken in the country, and these include primary school teachers’ recruitment. According to the RSU policy, which was dictated by the WB, there are only 512 vacancies in particular schools, also specified by the World Bank, and all these schools are concentrated in 13 towns of the city.

These reforms and rules were made in the interest of students, the official said, adding that teachers are hired where they are required. Moreover, these teachers cannot be transferred to other schools till the end of their three-year contracts. Candidates have accused the department of hiring teachers on political bases. The candidates termed it a ‘massacre of merit’.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 24th,  2010.