Ad hoc basis: Nearly 10 Sindh govt institutes await heads

These sub-departments not only receive millions in the budget but also collect funds from foreign donors.

KARACHI:

Despite the much-coveted devolution of powers to the provinces under the 18th Amendment, ad hoc appointments and decisions continue to mar the functioning of the Sindh education ministry.

While the Pakistan Peoples Party’s provincial leadership appeared on the same page, at least verbally, that devolution to the lowest level was the spirit of the amendment, the back-to-back orders passed through Chief Minister House hardly conform to this spirit.

At least 10 institutions allied with the provincial education department await appointments of legal and permanent administrative heads. The Sindh government has either illegally appointed non-cadre officials on cadre positions at these institutions or has appointed heads on an ad-hoc basis - a policy which is often criticised by the opposition as ‘political favouritism’.

Meanwhile, the Sindh education minister, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, when approached by The Express Tribune accepted that there were a number of allied institutions and sub-departments where the government had appointed officials on ad hoc basis and the practice continued even today.

The allied institutions awaiting appointment of permanent heads include the Sindh Textbook Board, Bureau of Curriculum and Extension Wing, Reform Support Unit, Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority (Steda), Sindh Education Foundation, Directorate of Charter and Inspection, Provincial Institute of Teachers Education, Directorate of Non-formal Education, Directorate of Human Resource, and Directorate of Planning and Development.

These sub-departments established under the education ministry not only receive millions in terms of budgetary allocations but also collect funds, amounting to billions of rupees, through development partners such as the World Bank, European Union, United States Agency for International Development, United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and United Nations International Children’s Emergency  Fund.

With around 21 per cent share in the total budgetary outlay, education is claimed to be the Sindh government’s ‘top priority’ with allocation of Rs 132.2 billion for the ongoing fiscal year. The education department has, however, failed to yield any significant results despite a massive expenditure since the last fiscal year when the education allocations were dramatically raised from Rs66.6 billion to Rs111.8 billion.

For instance, even the official website of an important sub-department like Steda, which was established to oversee and regulate the teacher training activities and to maintain the standards of trainings and training providers, has been “suspended due to non-payment”.

According to the Steda Act passed by the Sindh Assembly, the executive director shall be appointed for a period of four years and shall be eligible for reappointment for another term of four years. Instead of appointing a permanent head, the government has given the additional charge of Steda to the education department’s additional secretary Rehan Baloch.

As for the provincial textbook board, Buriro received his transfer orders on November 27, 2013 and education department’s special secretary Syed Zakir Ali Shah holds an additional charge, instead of appointing a permanent head at this sub-department of much import. Prior to Buriro, the textbook board’s secretary, Qadir Bux Rind, was tasked with an additional charge to look after the affairs. Likewise, the Provincial Institute of Teacher Education (PITE), located in Nawabshah, was established in 1995 as a project sponsored by the Asian Development Bank. The institute, aimed at assisting the Sindh education department and Steda in the formulation of policy in teacher education, has Noor Ahmad Khoso, a government teacher appointed on administrative positions, as its director general. For Khuhro, however, the justification for ad hoc appointments was to “ensure the continuity of operations” till a permanent appointment was made in place of a retired or transferred official.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2014.