Teachers as political pawns

Fiscal prudence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been thrown to the winds with the decision to approve time-based promotions that is going to send the salary bill of the education department through the roof. It is also going to create discord in the ranks of 176,000 government employees, as teachers will be the only sector in the province to have promotional opportunities such as this. A draft bill to amend the K-P Appointment, Deputation, Posting and Transfer of Teachers, Lecturers, Instructors and Doctors Regulatory Act of 2011, has already been sent to the law department for vetting and is likely to be presented to the provincial cabinet in the next week.

Not all quarters are delighted at this development, in large part because it is going to add Rs8 billion to the wages bill of the education department in the coming fiscal if approved. It has also not gone down well with the Law Department that has refused to vet it and returned the draft to the Establishment Division. Arguments against the proposed changes are lucid and appropriate. Were the bill to become law, promotion based on merit and competency would become a thing of the past. Teachers would be promoted irrespective of available vacancies and remain at their assigned school until their retirement no matter any change in the circumstances of that school. However where the number of teachers exceed the prescribed pupil-teacher ratio then transfers are to be permitted.

A possible consequence is that having set a precedent then other sectors are going to demand identical terms and conditions of service — and if that were the case then serious financial consequences are inevitable, with the possibility of provincial bankruptcy not too much of a stretch. This being the case it is puzzling that the finance ministry has agreed to the plan. Perhaps their crystal ball was away for annual servicing. Doctors come under the same legislation as teachers and they will be watching developments closely and will be certain to make their own claims if the amendment is passed and it will be difficult to gainsay them. This proposal is madness. Kill it now.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2018.

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