Ghost employees: Fake daily wagers in schools, colleges detected

Survey teams doing rounds to verify names on lists.

ISLAMABAD:

Just like ghost schools elsewhere in the country, there are a number of ghost teachers in the capital. On the payrolls of various scholls and colleges, they like to draw their salaries on time, but they never show up for class.

Survey teams from the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have found fake entries of daily wagers in dozens of schools and colleges. The issue came to light following the formation of committees to conduct visits of educational institutions to verify the names of daily wagers submitted to the FDE. According to officials privy to the survey, it turned out that the number of employees shared with CADD and FDE was exaggerated. “It was quite surprising that they misled us,” said one of the officials.

This is not the first time the case of the misleading figures has surfaced. Last year in March, over 200 teachers from model colleges and schools stormed the FDE to protest the inclusion of fake names for regularisation while ignoring those on merit.



One of the lists contains the names of two sons of a college principal who are supposed to be working as lecturer and lab in-charge in the same institution in basic pay scale 12. “One of the principal’s sons has a full-time job at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and has not taught a class in over two years,” said an official at FDE.

The CADD secretary issued orders for verification of employees after the Establishment Division directed the department to terminate the services of all daily wagers and contractual employees.

After the abolition of students’ funds, it became difficult for institutions to pay temporary teaching and non-teaching staff, especially those in evening shifts.

CADD has now decided to pay them salaries for three months. Verification of their names has begun, said FDE Director General (DG) Mahmood Akhtar Malik. We will retain their services till May 31, after which summer vacations are due to begin. After that a new fiscal year will start, so we’ll be able to handle the situation, he added.

FDE DG did not rule out wrongdoing on the part of officials but stated that half of over 2,000 employees on the lists might have left, which was why they were not to be found working at the institutions.

Another discrepancy discovered during the survey was that teachers as well as non-teaching staff were working at schools or colleges different from the ones they had been appointed for.

“This is another major problem because many teachers want transfers close to their homes which has resulted in a shortage of staff at a huge number of rural schools,” he added. “The fate of those found to have provided wrong figures will be decided by the CADD secretary.”

FDE Administration and Finance Director Ashraf Nadeem said they were working to remove fake entries. We cannot wholly blame principals for recommending fake names because some people might have approached officials at FDE or CADD to include them, he added.

CADD Education Adviser told The Express Tribune that they were working to resolve the issue of daily wagers and any comment would be premature.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2014.