FBISE officials concerned over victimisation of director by chairperson

Rizvi was removed as the affiliation wing’s director.

ISLAMABAD:

Employees at the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) are concerned about the recent actions of the board’s chairperson.

On Tuesday, a day after chairperson Shaheen Khan pacified protesting employees by saying her husband will not meddle with the board’s internal affairs any more, she stripped an official, who had a heated argument with her husband, of a key designation. Zulfiqar Ali Rizvi, director of Research and Affiliation, was removed as the Affiliation Wing’s director. Rizvi will continue working as Research wing’s director.

While some officials did not wish to comment on the situation, others said this was a clear message from their boss: Don’t mess with her husband.

“This move was to convey a message to the rest of the employees,” said one FBISE official, requesting anonymity. “If you raise an objection about interference from the chairperson’s husband, you will have to face adverse consequences.”

Another FBISE source, who works for the Academic Wing, said the action could impact all employees.

“The chairperson’s action against the director might spread fear among the lower cadre employees,” the source said. “Because if a director is not safe, then what might become of the low ranked officers.”

Some of the clerks working at FBISE said the power politics at the top of the board’s hierarchy does not translate to the bottom tiers, but others were cautious.

“If this is how directors are treated, the low rank employees will shy away from demanding their rights,” one employee in the board’s Affiliation Wing, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

On Thursday, Rizvi and Khan’s husband Colonel (retired) Zafar argued over a matter related to the file of an educational institution. The argument led to protests from the employees against Zafar’s interference in FBISE matters and Khan’s illegal occupation of the board’s 16-room guest house in sector H-8 in addition to her official residence in sector F-10/2.

Khan tried to defuse the situation on Monday by saying she had vacated the guest house and her husband will have no say in the board’s business in the future.

But on Tuesday, Professor Israr Ali, the FBISE secretary took over the reins of the Affiliation Wing from Rizvi.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Khan termed Rizvi’s removal as a routine “administrative decision.” She said the timing of the move was not significant.

“The decision was in the making for six or seven months,” she said. “We had been receiving complaints about the Affiliation Wing.”

Khan did not specify the nature of the complaints. She also denied her husband’s involvement in the routine matters of the board — a claim contested by FBISE employees, who allege Zafar has been involved in decision making from tenders to postings and transfers for the past four years.

Khan said the administration was considering moving the Affiliation Wing to the Academics section, which deals with matters related to registration. The Affiliation Wing of FBISE provides affiliation to private and public educational institutions. The affiliated institutions are bound to conduct examinations under the federal board system.

Officials at the Ministry of Education and Trainings — under which the FBISE falls — said they were unaware of the recent developments at the federal board.

One ministry official, when informed about the employees’ protest and its aftermath, dismissed them as trivial matters and internal politics.

“The ministry usually takes notice of board matters if it receives a complaint from board officials or if there are extensive media reports on the issue,” the official said.

Federal secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry was not in Islamabad on Thursday. The ministry officials said Chaudhry might take notice on his return to office.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2013.