No bent rules for overage recruits of education dept

Many overage candidates had cleared recruitment exams and were shortlisted for inclusion in the merit list

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Wednesday directed its education department not to grant any relaxation to overage candidates who may be shortlisted in the merit list.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Establishment Department issued on Wednesday a set of guidelines for recruitment in the department. The guidelines restrict district education officers from approving any age relaxation for overage candidates who had appeared for tests held recently by the National Testing Service (NTS) and FTS for thousands of vacant posts of teachers in the province. Many of these candidates had cleared the exam and were shortlisted for inclusion in the merit list but are now faced with the dilemma of being overage for the advertised posts.

In the past, district education officers would hire those who were overage by up to two years, while the education secretary and the K-P chief secretary would have the power to allow a relaxation in the rules to recruit those who were as much as seven and 10 years over the set limit respectively.

The education department then hires these teachers on contract.

However, the incumbent education secretary sought guidance from the establishment department over the procedure for granting relaxation to overage candidates.

In response to the query, the provincial establishment department issued the guidelines that the civil servant rules do not allow or are silent about granting age-relaxation to candidates for appointment.

Hence, the provincial education department has now refused to grant age relaxation to all such candidates who had been shortlisted.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2020.