Teachers’ transfers yet to start

Inter-district transfers of teachers have not started in Rawalpindi due to concerns of the Punjab Teachers’ Association, Rawalpindi chapter, which said doing so will affect the promotions of existing staff.

More than 450 teachers from other parts of the province were to be transferred to the Rawalpindi district under the inter-district transfer policy.

“We had completed the process and finalised a list of teachers to be appointed in different schools but work on the initiative was stopped after the teachers’ association brought the matter to the Service Tribunal. The transfers will be executed after the tribunal’s decision,” a senior official of the District Education Authority told Dawn.

Teachers whose names were finalised are shuttling between the offices of the deputy commissioner and the education authority for a no-objection certificate but no clear policy has been conveyed to them, a teacher said.

Punjab Teachers Association Rawalpindi chapter leader Raja Shahid said there are two reasons for the association’s opposition of the policy.

“The seniority of existing teachers will be affected and new recruitments will not be made,” he said.

He urged the government to revise the policy of inter-district transfers. He said the policy was banned in 2013 and claimed the ban had been lifted so government could accommodate its “own people”.

As many as 3,000 teachers in the Rawalpindi district are waiting to be transferred from small towns to vacant seats in the city areas but have not had a chance to serve in main schools yet, he said.

He said the matter is pending with the Service Tribunal and till it makes a decision, the education authority will not be able to implement the transfers.

Mr Shahid said most of the teachers whose names were finalised wanted to come to Rawalpindi because their spouses work in Islamabad.

However, he said, inter-district transfers are made only on wedlock policy if the couple is working in the same province.

Ostrich farming training held

A one-day training in commercial ostrich farming was held at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi.

The fifth national training session was aimed at providing technical knowledge as well as training in health and disease, handling, management and marketing of ostrich meat and its by-products.

The training also covered various techniques that can result in increased meat yield.

The university Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi was the chief guest at the event, which was also attended by deans, directors and ostrich farmers.

Over 25 ostrich farmers from across the country were given training on handling, rearing the bird for meat, eggs, skin and feather production, medication and vaccination.

Dr Abbasi said Pakistan has a favourable environment for ostrich farming.

“Ostrich farming is the only way to overcome the shortage of meat in the country,” he said.

He stressed on the need to raise awareness about the importance of ostrich farming and said it has a high-profit potential.

He urged veterinary researchers to resolve issues regarding ostrich farming in order to expand it at the national level.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2019