Resource management?: Fourteen primary schools merged into seven in Abbottabad

District teacher association threatens to protest the move.

ABBOTABAD: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa education department has merged 14 primary schools into seven in Abbottabad. The schools which had 11 up to 150 students will have to re-enrol them in the newly-minted institutes, insiders told The Express Tribune. 

The decision was taken after the district education office issued a circular in this regard on Tuesday. Following this notification, authorities shifted staff and students from seven primary schools for boys to schools which were either in the same building or situated in close proximity. Furniture and other equipment were also shifted.

According to a copy of the circular available with The Express Tribune, Government Primary School (GPS) 1 and 2 in Abbottabad city have been merged. GPS for Boys 5 and 6 in Abbottabad city have been combined while GPS 1 and 2 in Dhodial have also been combined.

“GPS Gati Maira and GPS Bilal Park in Choora village, GPS 2 and 4 in Havelian tehsil, GPS Banda Batang and Banda Phagwarian, and GPS Upper and Lower Salhad have also been merged,” stated the circular.

Sharing resources

When contacted, the Abbottabad DEO said schools were merged in accordance with a decision issued by the provincial government in April 2014.

“The schools which have been combined had very few students and were being run within the same building or adjacent to the one with which they have been merged,” he said. “This move will prevent waste of resources. Moreover, the schools which were short of teachers will also benefit from the arrangement.”

The DEO clarified the seniority of the teachers will not be affected by the new scheme.

“Senior teachers will be accommodated within the merged schools while junior teachers will be transferred to other areas where there is a shortage of staff.”

However, the education department’s new policy has drawn the ire of the All Primary Teachers Association which has termed it a step to transfer teachers.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the association’s district president Azhar Ali Khan vehemently opposed the decision.

“The association has decided to protest this policy,” he said. “If the education department does not reverse the decision, teachers will take to the streets.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2015.