FG colleges’ teachers resent denial of promotion

Say departmental selection board deferred promotions of 25 qualified teachers

ISLAMABAD:

Teachers of federal government colleges have expressed resentment over the non-consideration of their promotion cases by the Departmental Selection Board (DSB).

The DPC panel considered 21 promotion cases of vice-principals while 25 cases of assistant professors were deferred.

An assistant professor at the Islamabad Model Postgraduate College H-8 said: “Ironically, this is not the first time that the promotion cases of assistant professors of federal government colleges were not considered for promotion”.

“On July 9, 2021, the cases of assistant professors of both federal government colleges and model colleges were presented in the meeting of DSB. Unfortunately, the promotion cases of FG colleges were turned down while assistant professors of model colleges got the promotion. This was sheer discrimination with FG college teachers. Now, this is the second time they faced such discrimination,” he said.

Another assistant professor of the Islamabad Model College for Girls (Postgraduate) G-10/4 said, "Our promotion is being delayed on one or another pretext. Recently, our promotion was linked with our training which we have completed.

Even then our promotion was turned down and government resources and money went wasted which was spent on the preparation of promotion cases. If the next meeting of DSB is held after March 31, the new performance evaluation reports (PERs) for the year 2021 will be due and promotion will further be delayed because promotion cases will be revised amid a change in the quantification which will further delay the promotion,” he said.

Another assistant professor said, "Unfortunately, representative of the Federal Directorate of Education could not properly defend the cases before the DSB panel and promotion cases were turned down. The relevant authority has adopted a discriminatory policy in the matters and issues related to the federal government colleges resulting in demoralisation among teachers.

Expressing her dismay over the development, Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) President Dr Rahima Rahman said: "Instead of making things easier, the process of due promotion of teachers is being delayed. This delay in promotion is depriving the teachers financially as they cannot draw the hiked salaries until they are promoted. While teaching work in different educational institutions is already hampered due to vacant posts and the delay of promotions has compounded the problems.”

She said that teachers are the backbone of the entire education set up and they should immediately be promoted.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2022.