Daily Times

PESHAWAR: There are around 150 students who have done B.Ed Honours from the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Peshawar. However, the Khyber Pakhtunkwa Education Department refused to accept that their degrees were equivalent to Masters.

In 2010, IER, in collaboration with USAID, launched a Pre-Service Structure Programme according to which the graduating students were supposed to be given B.Ed Honours Degree equivalent to Masters as per the rules of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

The programme started in 2009 and was duly approved by the Government of Pakistan. As per the programme, the graduates were eligible to apply for Grade-17 teaching posts after completing four years of B.Ed Honours. Sources revealed that officials of the then KP education department in 2010, in collaboration with United State Agency for International Development (USAID), constituted a task force for the implementation of the four-year B.Ed Programme in the universities of KP.

However, astonishingly, the KP Education Department has so far not accepted the degrees of these 150 graduates, putting their future in jeopardy. In addition, IER has given admission to around 170 more students even though the future of this programme is not clear. Professor Dr AmjadRiba, coordinator of the B.Ed Honours program at IER maintained that the respective degree had been started after a collaborative and consultative process among three stakeholders including USAID and the Education department of KP but the latter was creating hurdles in making the programme a success. He further said that Peshawar University should discuss the issue with the authorities in order to save the future of the hundreds of students who have spent valuable time and money in securing degrees. Kamran Loan, USAID Coordinator for the above mentioned programme said that the B.Ed four years programme started to bear fruit in other parts of the country including Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan producing professionals in the field of education. “It is the responsibility of KP government to make effective use of such professionals in the field of education, and also further helping students by accepting their degrees,” Kamran added. Sahibzada Hamid Mehmood, Additional Director at Secondary and Elementary Department informed that the project was initiated by USAID in UoP and it was the responsibility of the university to contact the Law and Home Department in order to make amendments to the rules to get recognition of the degree for employment in the education sector.

He added that the Education Department was ready to support the programme once the laws had been amended. One of the officials of IER on condition of anonymity said that a meeting between KP Education Department and USAID, held in Islamabad before the start of the project, decided that USAID would fund the project while University of Peshawar would implement it. It was also decided that KP Education Department would bring about changes in their rules to accept the degree and provide pre-service structure required to get teaching jobs.

The official also stated that the slow response from the Education Department and the change in the government had put the success of this programme in jeopardy. Director IER Dr ShafqatPerveen stated that the said degree would not be usable unless the Education Department gives a pre service structure in the teaching jobs. She added that three months earlier the matter had been raised in front of the Vice-chancellor UOP in order to negotiate the issue with Education Department of KP but no progress had ensued. Akhter Amin, Media Protocol Officer UoP, said that the Elementary and Secondary Education Department and USAID had started the B.Ed programme with the promise that jobs would also be provided after the completion of the degree, but they went back on their promise, stating that it was the responsibility of the government to amend the service rules for the concerned degree.

The graduating students asked the provincial government to award pre-service structures to them by making required amendments in recruitment rules in teaching cadre jobs.They also said that KP government should declare the four-year B.Ed (honours) degree equivalent to the Masters (M.A) degree as per Higher Education Commissioner (HEC) rules. Jalal Ajmal, a degree holder of the B.Ed honours programme said that initially the university had told them that the degree would be equivalent to M.A and would have a pre-service structure in the education sectors job but it turned out that the education department neither considered the four years B.Ed programme equivalent to M.A, nor granted any service structure in the in the teaching cadres jobs. Sohail Ahmad was of the view that if the UoP and Education department were not ready to amend the rules for the four year programme, then the students should not be encouraged to obtain the degree. He accused the education department of KP and UoP of securing financial benefits.