Hiring allowance of FDE employees resumed

ISLAMABAD:

The Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training has reinstated the house hiring facility for teachers and employees of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) which was previously suspended in May 2022 due to budgetary constraints.

This move comes as a relief to the teachers and employees of the educational institutions who had been burdened with the responsibility of paying rent from their own pockets and had been facing severe financial difficulties as a result. The house hiring facility allows government servants to rent houses for their families, with the government covering the rental expenses.

However, a shortage of allocated funds in the hiring budget of educational institutions led to the suspension of this facility for the teachers, while employees of ministries, divisions, and other attached departments continued to benefit from it. This disparity even sparked concerns of discrimination among teachers and employees of educational institutions.

The lifting of the ban on fresh hiring has been met with enthusiasm and relief by teachers, who have long been grappling with the financial burden of renting accommodations.

The president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA), Dr Rahima Rehman, warmly welcomed the decision of allowing fresh house hiring. She expressed her support and said that it is the right decision to alleviate the financial hardships faced by teachers. After enduring a year-long struggle, teachers will now have the opportunity to secure a hired house for their families, she added.

She further said that the Ministry of Federal Education's decision to restore the house hiring facility to FDE employees reflects recognition of the financial challenges faced by teachers and a commitment to rectify the discrimination in the allocation of housing benefits adding that this positive step is poised to improve the overall well-being of educators and contribute to the enhancement of the education system in the capital city.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of the association, Dr Nazir Ahmed Bhutta, demanded increased budgetary allocation for federal government colleges to address the significant backlog of pending rent owed by teachers. He highlighted that these colleges had been allocated insufficient funds in the previous year's rental ceiling.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2023.