Federal government upgrades employment of FDE director general

Fails to appoint permanent DG for the education directorate

ISLAMABAD: The federal education ministry has decided to upgrade the employment cadre for the chief of the federal capital’s top education body even if it has yet to appoint a permanent officer on that seat.

A notification recently issued by the Ministry For Education and Professional Training’s Section Officer Asad Aijaz Butt said that that the officer appointed to the post of director-general at the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) — which oversees matters for the 423 schools and colleges in the federal capital — will now be filled by an officer in at least basic pay scale (BPS) grade 21, instead of BPS-20 previously.

The notification further said that two new posts have been created in the directorate including the deputy director general (DDG) for policy and the DDG for operations. Officers appointed to these posts will facilitate the director-general.

The document added that permission has already been sought from the Establishment Division for the creation of the posts while a notification in this regard has also been sent to the finance division for final approval.

The notification comes even as education experts in the federal capital and sources in the education ministry pointed out that the position of FDE’s chief has been lying vacant for the past four years. They added that the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governments have both failed to fill the post with a permanent official appointed after following the set criteria.

Instead, both governments have been content to let the department continue operations on an ad hoc basis.

This is evidenced by how the government has been content in giving the additional charge of the FDE director-general post to the Federal Education Ministry’s Joint Secretary Syed Umer Javed.

The education experts said that the attitude of the government shows that the post has become a ‘musical chair’ during this time. They also expressed their surprise at the move, noting that if the government could not find a suitable candidate in BPS-20 to fill the post, how will they find the relevant candidate in BPS-21.

The experts said such measures showed that despite its public proclamations, education did not appear to be a priority for the incumbent government.

If it had been so, they contended, the government would have filled the seat by now.

Increasing capacity of FDE schools

Meanwhile, the education ministry has decided to enhance the capacity of government-run educational institutions in the federal capital, particularly to accommodate all out-of-school children in the federal capital.

Sources in the education ministry said that to achieve its task of enrolling every child, they have taken numerous measures under a new policy for the year 2020-21.

The ministry will ensure the grant of admissions in each institution as per the intake capacity of every institution.

They added that students from some 22 out-of-school children centres (OOSCC), who have been enrolled in the accelerated learning programme (ALP), have been assessed for promotion to the next level.

Sources added that a smartphone application had also been introduced for teachers, Area Education Officers (AEOs) and relevant officials to enhance monitoring apart from inculcating a culture of data-driven decision-making for enrollment of out-of-school children.

Further, the ministry said it has provided area-wise ALP books and teacher guides for enhancing the learning of students.

They said that follow-up support and mentoring is also being provided by the education ministry to ALP teachers through master trainers to enhance the quality of education in public sector schools. Sources confirmed that all out-of-school children will be enrolled in grade six of FDE schools after completing the ALP package.

The ministry has sought volunteer participation to support schools in the provision of missing facilities. Key among them have been the First Lady Volunteer School Support Programme.

Sources said that no one was denied admission and every possible effort was made to accommodate applicants based on the distance from residence rule and merit.

However, under the project refurbishment of ICT High Schools, under PSDP, additional classrooms along with other allied facilities were being provided in 34 educational institutions and construction of the same was in final stages, they confirmed.

With additional input by APP 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2020.