96,000 teachers appointed in K-P since 2013

Uniform curriculum has been termed historic achievement of PTI

PESHAWAR:

As many as 96,000 teachers were appointed in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (KP) since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was elected to power in 2013, provincial Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif Tarakai said that the provincial government had announced to it will appoint a total 120,000 teachers. He added that the remaining 24,000 teachers would be appointed soon.

“The PTI government has so far appointed as many as 96,000 teachers, out of a total 120,000 as announced by the government,” Tarakai told reporters. Over 55000 teachers were recruited by the previous PTI government, while 41,000 have already been recruited by sitting government.”

The PTI was first elected to the provincial government in 2013. The party was re-elected in the province in 2018 general elections after completing its five-year term. Tarakai told reporters that process of appointing the remaining teachers was ongoing and the appointments would be made soon.

Presenting the annual performance report, the minister said that 5,000 teachers would be recruited for the double-shift schools system. “Recruitment for this programme would be done through the Parents Teachers Council and educated youth can apply online for this programme.

More than 1,100 double-shift schools have already been started in different parts of K-P,” he said. “Rs6 billion has been allocated for the provision of furniture to government schools that will directly benefit around 2.6 million children in the province,” he added.

“Similarly, to strengthen education services, the K-P government is spending a record Rs60 billion on provision of furniture, construction of new schools, model classrooms, boundary walls, washrooms and other education projects in merged areas,” he continued.

The minister hailed the “uniform education curriculum” as a historic achievement of the PTI government, saying that it enabled all students, irrespective of the financial position of their parents, to get the same education in the country, including K-P.

About the future plans, Tarakai said the provincial government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Hundreds of Original Projects for Employment (HOPE’87) for establishing smart schools in the province.

“The project aims to improve higher-order thinking and science learning among secondary school students through blended online learning with face-to-face instruction in K-P,” he said, adding that 24 schools have been selected in the first phase.

“Work is continuing on ‘Halka Basta Act’ to reduce the weight of bags for schoolchildren, while the text book board is also being digitised,” the minister said. He added that winter vacations would started from December 23 in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2021.