Ghost schools: Over 200 teachers asked to pay back salaries

Issued show cause notices for drawing salaries without performing duties.

KOHISTAN:

As many as 241 schoolteachers have been asked to pay back the salaries disbursed to them for the six-months they did not perform their duties, officials of the Anti-Corruption Department told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

Executive District Officer Elementary and Secondary Education Khan Muhammad issued show cause notices to the teachers, asking them to clarify their position within two weeks. He said the teachers could face dismissal if their replies are found to be unsatisfactory. He added that of the 241 teachers, only 59 are women.



Last month, the department unearthed 12 ghost schools in different parts of Kohistan where teachers were drawing salaries without attending the schools. The institutes include primary level government schools in Pattan, Sew and Kandia. Most of the teachers were non-locals, belonging to Haripur, Abbottabad, Swat, Mansehra and Gilgit districts.

The Anti Corruption Department, after completing the inquiry, had recommended disciplinary action against the teachers.

Of the ghost schools unearthed, nine have started functioning after their staff returned to their duties, while one is facing a shortage of teaching staff. The schools were closed in April.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.