Low enrolment: School resources to be adjusted as per capacity

Quality enhancement cells set up to train teachers

ISLAMABAD: The authorities taking note of the low number of students in federal educational institutions have decided to adjust their resources as per their capacity. After the decision, temporary employees working in federal educational institutions are likely to be sent to their respective departments.

A quality enhancement cell has also been set up to train the teachers and improve the educational standards. According to Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) Director General Dr Ali Ahmed Kharal, all possible measures will be taken to improve the educational standard of the government schools working under the directorate. The decision, he said, came in response to directions from the Federal Educational Minister Shafqat Mehmood.

FDE Director General Dr Ali Kharal has advised authorities to identify the schools that could not meet its enrolment targets and operate with a low number of students. The authorities have hinted at the provision of resources to transform such institutions as per the mainstream schools.

Director for Schools Saqib Shahbab has been tasked to identify all such schools with less-than-targeted number of students. It has been reported that there are many educational institutions under the FG setup where the required number of students is missing. Sources say that there is an acute shortage of specialist subject teachers which is why the enrolment rate has been rising for private instead of the public schools. After 2009, the authorities have not made any appointments for teachers until now.

The Director General has also directed that officers and staff employed on a temporary basis in the Federal Directorate should be sent back to the educational institutions and a report should be made in this regard. According to sources, over 50 employees of the federal directorate have been performing their duties on a temporary basis and it has been decided that these staff members will be transferred back to their own departments and replaced by the staff of the directorate.

The directorate has also set up a quality enhancement cell in order to improve the standard of public educational institutions. Professor Rashid Salim has been made the director of the cell while Yasir Chatta has been appointed as the deputy director. The cell has been tasked to improve the educational standard of the Federal Directorate schools and identify all steps needed for the transformation. Earlier, Dr Ali Ahmed Kharal’s special cell in the Model College in Sector G-10/4 has been immensely successful.

He said that as per the advice of the Federal Educational Minister, the schools under F-G setup will be provided with the needed resources.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2018.