Project abandoned: Punjab govt removes 36 literacy officers

Move sends shockwaves through district training and literacy officers

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has removed 36 district training and literacy officers (DTLOs) after it abruptly abandoned a project aimed at training teachers, monitoring development and literacy schemes and educational activities in 36 districts of the province.

The provincial government spent millions of rupees on the training and skill enhancement of the DTLOs, who had been inducted on a one year extendable contract to run the “Project Management Unit”.

“The 17-grade officers were hired by the Punjab government on a one year contract, which was extendable. However, on August 27, the authority issued letters regarding their termination without prior notices. The project was supposed to end in 2016,” said an official in the Rawalpindi education department while requesting anonymity.

On the other hand, the removed officers said the project was abruptly abandoned just because the provincial government got a new project from the Planning and Development Division. They said they will approach the court against their unfair removal from jobs.

The DTLOs were deployed in different districts to train teachers and to monitor development and literacy schemes and their abrupt removal will take a toll on the training process of teachers and monitoring activities.

Literacy and Training Officer Rawalpindi Hala Anwar was among the 36 terminated officers. She said she received a letter from the authorities on August 27.  Earlier, she was verbally informed about the decision that the project was being shut down but she did not stop visiting her office.

An official at the Project Management Unit also confirmed the removal of the officers in all districts of Punjab.  The official, while requesting anonymity, said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will soon announce to launch a “fresh and updated project”. He claimed that the new project will create more posts.

Anwar said the Punjab govt spent Rs500,000 on each officer for training and “they have been removed when we were paying back to the government”.

Only a few officers completed their one year contract while the rest were yet to do so.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2015.