Seeking recognition: Problems galore at Federal College of Education

Despite hosting 600 enrolled students, 40-year-old institution lacks degree-awarding status.

ISLAMABAD: Near the heart of the capital’s education district stands the Federal College of Education (FCE), a forty-year-old school with a curious problem.

The college, one of the few places a prospective teacher can go in Pakistan to get the relevant training and education, has over 600 students,

The college offers a three-year BS in education, one-year programmes of Bachelors of Education, Masters of Education and a two-year MA Education as well. But whichever programme the students are in, none of them will get an FCE degree.

For all degree programmes, the college is affiliated with University of the Punjab (UoP), and this is where the struggle of this institute begins.

The college, situated in Sector H-9/1, has struggled since its inception, with several issues needing to be addressed for decades. At this time, even the dimensions of the property on which the college has been set up remains a matter of dispute.

The beautiful college building is surrounded by a few kanals which have become subject of a court battle between the college and a local contractor, with both claiming ownership of the land.

FCE was established in June 1974 as the Directorate of In-Service Teacher Education and Resource Material Centre, Islamabad. In 1978, it was upgraded to a teacher training college and renamed FCE. The college gives educational trainings, meeting the needs of students and teachers.

Dr Rashada Fatima, director of the college for the last one-and-a-half year and a pioneer staffer of the institution, is of the view that the college does not get due recognition.

“Students from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Northern Punjab are enrolled in the college and it not only produces graduates but provides updated teacher-training programmes to many,” she stated.

Fatima lamented that when the institute reached out to UoP for several issues, from examination to other correspondence, they would find it difficult to get due response. “Maybe it’s because we are a federal institution, but they must understand that we cater to students from across the country,” she commented. She opined that if the institution was provided with degree-awarding status, it would not only help in its expansion, but also get rid of procedural formalities with UoP.

According to Dr Jamil Bajwa, an assistant professor at the college, over 15 teachers here are still awaiting time-scale promotions, while Federal Directorate of Education employees were granted the benefit following former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s orders in 2011.

Capital Administration and Development Division’s (CADD) Joint Secretary Rafique Tahir said that nothing was wrong with the college. “I have been director of this college in the past, and everything is at its best,” he stated. He added that time-scale promotions were eventually given to the college staffers and blamed a procedural hitch for the delay.

Tahir said they were mulling increasing the number of degree programmes and launch BS and MS degrees soon. “We have also been discussing awarding the institution university status,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2014.