Provision of furniture to schools in tribal districts ordered

Capacity of ETEA enhanced by 500%

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Education Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai has ordered the provision of furniture to the schools in the Newly Merged Districts of the Porivnce on priority basis.

Tarkai on Tuesday also directed the education department to implement the teachers’ presence policy in letter and spirit and also sought a summary of newly created posts of teachers to be sent to finance department for approval.

Presiding over the review meeting of education department, he also ordered that the recommendations of Parent Teachers' Council should be taken into consideration in the policy for temporary appointments on various posts falling vacant due to retirement, promotion, leave of many teachers before the summary of the formal approval could be sent to the cabinet for approval.

The minister also directed that the data of all the newly recruited employees should be uploaded on EMIS which contained complete information. Secretary Education Yahya Akhonzada, Special Secretary Shahbaz Tahir Nadeem, Additional Secretary Development Akhlaq Ahmed, Additional Secretary Reforms Ashfaq Ahmed and other officials of Education Department attended the meeting.

Tarkai also ordered provision of furniture to the schools of the newly merged districts soon.

Tarakai also said that tenders should be issued for the provision of furniture and tablets to the schools, launch of Rehmatul Allamin Scholarship Program and preparation of merit and lists for needy students.

He said that Rs20 billion were being spent on the provision of furniture in schools and in the coming years all the government schools will have chairs and desks for the students.

On the other hand, Provincial Minister for Higher Education Kamran Khan Bangash has said that digitalization was being promoted across the province and Educational Testing & Evaluation Agency (ETEA) has also been fully digitized. ETEA capacity has been increased by 500 per cent in a very short time.

He was presiding over a meeting at ETEA. The meeting was also attended by Secretary Higher Education Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other concerned officials.

The provincial minister said that with the acquisition of two heavy-duty digital press machines, ETEA would produce 25,000 questionnaires per hour from one machine, which is 20,000 more than before. ETEA can now get 25,000 scans per hour by getting three heavy duty document scanners, which were 5,000 scans per hour on previous machines.

The ability to check results, the ability to create question papers, the ability to scan papers and the overall ability to work has been increased by 500 per cent which is a milestone in such a short time.

Provincial Minister Kamran Khan Bangash said that video recording has been introduced by the provincial government to bring transparency in testing centers which will be mandatory in every test center. He said that now you can deposit money online to apply in ETEA. Invigilation staff money has also been digitized for the distribution, which will allow them to receive money online instead of cash.

Provincial Minister Kamran Khan Bangash said that the purpose of digitizing the recruitment process was to bring transparency and merit in the process. The provincial government is promoting modern trends in the education sector as well as using modern technology in the recruitment process to ensure transparency in the entire process.

He said that an ETEA call center has also been set up which will be operational in March 2022 under which complaints could be registered by phone call.

(Additional input from APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2022.