ISLAMABAD: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is all set to open seven new schools and colleges in August this year after getting approval from the Ministry of Education.

The FDE notified opening of seven new institutions in August.

“These institutions were in the pipeline for years. But, now, their construction has been completed and we are going to start classes from August,” said FDE spokesperson Abdul Waheed.

The directorate’s Director Planning, Inam Jahangir, said formal notifications for opening of the institutions had been issued and the process of procurement of furniture had begun, adding that these institutions – five colleges and two schools – will cater to the needs of thousands of students.

“The FDE director general had directed us to ensure opening of these institutions from the upcoming academic session and with the effort of my team, we managed to execute the plan within the stipulated time,” he said.

Formal notification issued; Over 100 teaching, non-teaching staff to be hired on contract

The new institutions are Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB) G-15, IMCB G-13/2, Islamabad Model School (I-V) Gohra Shahan, Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) G-14/4, IMCB Pakistan Town and IMCG G-13/1. Classes will begin in Mera Bagwal College from August. This college is located in a rural area near Bhara Kahu and was constructed back in 1989, but successive governments had failed to take measures to make it operational.

However, following continuous efforts during the last few years by former PTI Member of National Assembly (MNA) Raja Khurram Nawaz, the FDE took over possession of the college building.

Sources in FDE said for necessary repair and maintenance besides procurement of furniture, a PC-I worth Rs250 million has been prepared.

They said under the PC-I, there was also provision of hiring over 100 teaching and non-teaching staff contractually for three years. Regular staff will also be hired during this time.

Mr Waheed said recently FDE had inducted 337 teachers while 253 more teachers were going to be hired soon, adding that these teachers would be hired in all under-staffed institutions with a special focus on new institutions.

He said when the said institutions would be operational, the load of admissions in model colleges located in urban areas would also be reduced.

“When people of Bhara Kahu and its adjoining area will have a state-of-the art model college inMera Bagwal, then why would they admit their children to colleges located in an urban area,” the FDE spokesperson said, adding that construction of seven new institutions and hiring of subject specialist teachers was a great achievement of the directorate.

It is relevant to note here, FDE Director General Dr Ikram Ali Malik played the main role in getting construction work of the said institutions completed while for the first time in history of FDE, schoolteachers were appointed through a third party (Education Testing Council of Higher Education Commission).

In the past, the FDE and its ministry used to hire teachers on their own amid allegations of making appointments on pick and choose basis.

“We made all recruitment purely on merit through the testing council. The merit-based appointment will leave far reaching impact on the education sector of Islamabad,” the FDE spokesperson claimed.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2022