Edu secy summoned over appointments

PHC told 2009 policy separates teaching, management cadres

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has summoned the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education in a case challenging the appointment of teaching cadre officers to management positions within his department. A bench consisting of Justices Ijaz Anwar and Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard the petition filed by Mansoor Jafar. The petitioner's counsel, Khalid Rehman, a section officer from the Department of Education, and the Additional Advocate General appeared in court.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel, Advocate Khalid Rehman, informed the court that his clients are officers of the management cadre in grades 16, 17, 18, and 19. He added they were officially appointed to these positions after the separation of the management cadre within the Department of Education.

He explained that under the 2009 Education Policy, the provincial government established two separate cadres within the Department of Education: management and teaching. The teaching cadre was separated to improve the quality of education so that teachers could focus solely on their schools, while the management cadre was selected for administrative responsibilities.

He further informed the court that after the implementation of this policy in 2009, various petitions were filed in the high court and then in the Supreme Court, all of which were dismissed. The Supreme Court validated the establishment of these cadres and instructed the relevant institutions to strictly adhere to these rules. However, over the past two and a half months, 25 officers from the management cadre have been made officers on special duty (OSD) and replaced by officers from the teaching cadre.

He explained to the court that making management cadre officers OSD and appointing teaching cadre officers to administrative positions creates numerous administrative problems, as officers working in these roles have undergone multiple training sessions and are best suited for management. "Unfortunately, this has not been followed, and over the past two months, 25 officers from the management cadre have been made OSD, and their positions have been filled by officers from the teaching cadre."

The court was informed that there are currently 466 management cadre and 501 teaching cadre posts within the Department of Education, with 109 positions left vacant. However, the provincial government and Department of Education officials have been appointing their preferred individuals and placing teaching cadre officers in key positions. The counsel stated this was a violation of the principles of the education policy. The honorable bench summoned the secretary to the court on Wednesday (today) on the appointments of teaching cadre officers to management cadre positions.

Sugar mills case

The Peshawar High Court has reserved its judgment after hearing arguments on the petition filed by sugar mills against the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government's decision not to allow the export of the commodity.

The hearing was conducted by Justices Ijaz Anwar and Dr Khurshid Iqbal. The petitioner's counsel, Advocate Ishaq Ali Qazi, Additional Attorney General Hazrat Syed, and Additional Advocate General Muhammad Inam Khan Yousafzai appeared before the court.

The petitioner's counsel informed the court that Pakistan is the sixth-largest producer of sugarcane and the ninth-largest producer of sugar in the world. "The federal government has approved the export of sugar. Punjab and Sindh have allowed sugar export, but the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is not granting permission, causing massive losses to the mills."