PESHAWAR, May 17: The education departments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have launched a survey to collect record of teachers of public sector educational institutions whose children are studying in private schools and colleges, according to officials.

A month ago the Peshawar High Court had directed the elementary and secondary education department, higher education department and technical education department to collect the record and take action against those government teachers who have not admitted their children to government educational institutions, said the officials of education departments.

“The PHC has directed us to take action against all those teachers who have admitted their children in private schools, as such teachers have no confidence in themselves to teach their own children,” the officials said.

They said that the court had directed that before taking action a survey of such teachers should be completed within two months.

In this connection, officials of the establishment and three education departments held a meeting on Monday last to finalise arrangements for the survey.

During the meeting a pro forma was prepared to be sent to the education authorities on district, tehsil and circle levels. The pro forma contains information such as name of the teacher, designation, number of children studying in private schools, current posting etc, the officials said.

Asked under which law action would be taken against such teachers, the officials said that under the rules no one could be barred from admitting their children to private educational institutions.

However, ethically it is the responsibility of the teachers to admit their children in government schools, they said. “If these teachers think that their children will not learn something under their supervision in government schools and colleges then it means they have no confidence in their own capabilities,” the officials said.

The education officials said that teachers of government schools would show more responsibility and commitment to their profession if they were to teach their own children in these schools and as such the academic atmosphere of government educational institutions would improve.

Presently, teachers of government schools and colleges are known for wasting time, not taking interest in duty, skipping classes, etc. Asked about the nature of action, the officials said that it was up to the court to decide about it. “Our first job is to collect the data according to the court orders,” they said.

However, other officials said that action could be taken under the Efficiency and Discipline Rules 2011 on account of disobedience and non-compliance of lawful orders of government as well as the high court, if teachers didn’t accept any decision in this regard.

Executive district officer (education) Peshawar, Hakimullah Khan, when contacted, said that he had received the directives from his high-ups to collect data of government school teachers whose children are studying in private schools. “I have called a meeting of all principals to devise a strategy about collection of accurate data,” he said.