Daily Times

KARACHI: The teachers associations operating in the metropolis of Karachi are resisting the transfers and posting of the teachers which belong to the interior Sindh to Karachi region’s schools and colleges, Daily Times has learnt.

These associations believe that officers and officials of the education department brushed aside the appointments of local teachers in government schools as well as in state-run colleges because of ethnic ground favoritism and narrow-mindedness. Most of the sufferers are lady teachers who can’t perform their duties since they couldn’t find any job near at their residences as per services rules of Sindh government.

The ethnic rivalries amongst the employees of education department have literally turned educational institutes into politics learning institutions. Even though, teachers are snapping up huge salaries to encourage quality education and to increase enrollment ratio in government schools but the irony is that financial embezzlement cases in schools management committee’s funds are frequently reported which has made the government educational system nastiest.

“The employment discrimination rooted on ethnicity and especially favoritism based transfers and postings in education department not only dispirits quality education but parents are also reluctant to enroll their children in government schools”, said Rashid Ali Khan, Chairman of Al Rashid Foundation Pakistan, added that in the tenure of former Secretary Education, Fazlullah Pechuho who had permitted to merge government schools within a single campus whilst the education department is trying unsuccessfully to operate those schools which follow-on no outcomes.

In fact, parents are compelled to enroll their children in private schools regardless of the state-run educational institutes functioning in every area of the city. “The tradition of favoritism based transfers and posting still exists especially in Karachi region which has created chaos for Urdu speaking and Sindhi speaking teachers”, he repeated his stance.

According to a notification issued by Schools Education Department, 8 Section Officers (SOs) of the Sindh Secretariat which includes Agha Altaf Hussain, Naveed Mushtaque, Syed Hassan Raza, Azizullah Tunio, Javid Ali Kalhoro, Khadim Hussain Jandan, Ali Gul Jalbani and Muhammad Yasin Mangi, positioned as Taluka Education Officers on vacant post in the various towns last month.

Nevertheless, these SOs have no relations with education, he pointed out. “These vacant posts were reserved for education cadre officers but the influential officers approached to the high-ranked bureaucrats, working in the education department to give them posting letters on such positions, from which they can be able to make money”.

Khadim Hussain Jandan, who is one of the SOs of Sindh Secretariat and was newly appointed as TEO of Karachi’s BaldiaTown but he forged his offer letter and appointed himself as TEO of Shah Faisal Town where TEO Elahi Bux Channa is already serving as TEO.

“If any of the education department’s employees want to be transferred from one district to another, no objection certificate (NOC) of district education officer is required”, said Abdul Rehman, central leader of The Association of the Heads of Government Secondary Schools Karachi (TAHGSS), added that even secretary education has no right to post any teacher from one region to another region without the recommendation of regional director schools. However, fresh appointments can be made by provincial education department.

“Associations of teachers working for the benevolence and welfare of teachers belonging to Karachi, are openly opposing the postings rooted to ethnicity and discrimination”, he argued, added that Karachi is an economic hub which is why the people of interior Sindh prefer to be posted here, either they wish to work part time or teach tuitions but such flow of posting has produced many issues for the local employees. He demanded the authorities of the department to revoke all the transfer and posting orders which were issued on the ethnic grounds.

In this regard, many attempts were made to talk with Director Schools Karachi Riaz Ahmed Siddiqui but he was not present at his office. However one of the senior officers at directorate schools told Daily Times that the director schools has the privilege to refuse the joining of any employees who does not belong to the his region.

Published in Daily Times, July 28^th , 2017.