Sindh

Education department says teachers swapping classrooms for newsrooms

Employees working as anchors, editors and reporters.

Ppi June 25, 2011

KARACHI:

The Sindh education and literacy department claims that a large number of its staff has turned to journalism instead of teaching.

The department listed the names of 200 to 300 employees, including professors, teachers and non-teaching staff, as people who are working as news editors, anchors, reporters and correspondents for the print and electronic media instead of working at schools and colleges.

“They are being paid salaries by the government but have been working for media organisations for several years,” said a spokesperson on behalf of the senior minister for education and literacy, Pir Mazharul Haq.

The spokesperson quoted a newspaper editorial and claimed that the people implicated have begun undermining reports about these lists through falsified news reports and articles. “They are trying to pressure the education minister who plans to show the lists to owners of media organisations.”

The minister believes that such employees must be fired from these illegal private jobs in order to better Sindh’s education system, he added.

The education department claims that the teachers-cum-journalists are highlighting issues such as unresolved matters of promotions and management scuffles to pressure the minister.

A month ago, Haq met the information minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, and promised to issue warnings — and later take action against — all education department employees earning government salaries while working for the media. Inam had suggested collecting and publishing a directory of verified journalists.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

The Forbidden Fruit | 12 years ago | Reply "..instead of working in schools" and being on the payroll is illegit. But then they turned to other professions because we know the dire straits the govt education sector has been in.

Faraz Talat | 12 years ago | Reply I might need to gather a little more information on the matter, but what's the problem here? As long as the teachers are doing their jobs teaching their students, what does it matter what they do or don't do in their free time? . Unless their new new jobs are adversely affecting their work as teachers, there's absolutely no case here. In fact, I'm glad to see professors and teachers becoming active in the media.

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