Punjab plans to consolidate edu boards

Employees condemn decision as unconstitutional, threaten protests and strikes

RAWALPINDI:

In a recent decision, the government has agreed to abolish all nine education boards across Punjab and form one board in their place.

Instructions to prepare a schedule and characteristics for the implementation of this plan have been issued. The decision will also be presented in the Punjab Assembly to be legislated. Meanwhile, the Employees Welfare Association of Rawalpindi Education Board has rejected the decision and has announced protests and strikes in all the respective boards’ regions, which include Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal. The general meeting of the association was held at the board office in Rawalpindi on Monday, in which all the board employees and officials had participated.

The president of the association, Raja Usman Shahzad, said the merger of all the boards is unconstitutional and illegal. General Secretary, Imran Younis Gujjar added that the boards have been attacked as part of a conspiracy. “All the boards have commercial land worth billions of rupees and huge income.

The eyes of the rulers are on the board income and land. By abolishing nine boards and creating one, the examination system will become completely paralysed and non-transparent,” he said, declaring that “the whole of Punjab cannot be run by one board.”

Government sources have confirmed that the proposal to merge all the boards into one is being fast-tracked. One of the caveats of replacing nine boards with just one is that it would risk the employment of 60 per cent of current staff. The resulting redundant employees will either be dismissed from duty or will be added to the surplus pool, for which plans are already underway.