Although all the federal government (F.G.) colleges in Islamabad were converted into model colleges on March 2, 2011, so far neither the required facilities have been provided to the students nor promises made with the teachers fulfilled.

According to a faculty member at the H-9 College, the names of the F.G. colleges were changed under the slogan of introducing “Uniformity of education” in the public sector educational institutions of the federal capital.

“It was a good idea but for the teachers and students it proved nothing, as promises regarding the benefits for both the students and teachers could not be materialised,” he said.

It may be noted that teachers in both the F.G. and model colleges have separate seniority lists. Those in model colleges get quick promotion compared to their counterparts in the F.G. colleges with the latter remaining in the same grade for years.

There is also no rule allowing transfer of teachers from F.G. to model colleges or vise versa. The teachers in F.G. colleges are appointed through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) while those in the model colleges are hired by a separate board. However, students in the F.G. colleges have to pay far less fee than those in the model institutions. Besides, as the model colleges get more funds form the government, their principals also have more monetary powers.

With the new decision, the F.G. college teachers had expected that the move would help them gain quick promotions on the basis of their seniority. However, so far no merger of teachers and their seniority have taken place. The renaming of F.G. colleges has failed to bring the teachers of the two mainstream public institutions under one umbrella, said the teacher.

An official in the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) requesting not to be identified added: “There are still two separate offices to run the F.G. and model colleges: director model colleges and director F.G. colleges. They are administering their respective institutions separately, causing an obstacle in the way of their merger.”

He said both the set-ups had different fee structures, adding the F.G. colleges were meant for the poor segment of society. So far, as fund allocation is concerned, the government is more inclined towards the model institutions and this practice is still going on,” he said.

The F.G colleges cater to the educational needs of students who pass their matriculation exam and want to study further while model colleges provide education to those from Class-I and onward. When someone visits a model college, he usually sees kids of pre-school, primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary classes under one roof.

Another teacher of an F.G. college said change in names had brought no fruits to the F.G. colleges rather it has put more burden on their financial resources. He said the colleges have to change everything from day-to-day office stationery like students attendance registers, absentee slips, struck-off and other forms to the signboards. These things drained out the college funds for no good purpose, he added.

“At the time of changing the names of F.G. colleges, it was announced that a model university would also be established to deal with the educational institutions but now the educational institutions have been affiliated with Quaid-i-Azam University,” he added.

The teachers of ex-Margalla College complained that at times they face an awkward situation when their official letters and mails are delivered to the other college with the same name in the same F-7/4 sector.

It may be noted that the Federal Government College for Women, F-7/2, is the oldest girls institution of the capital. The Federal Government Margalla College for Women was founded in 1982 to meet the ever-increasing demand for another standard college for girls in federal capital. These colleges have been regularly showing excellent results in board and university examinations.

Similarly, for boys Federal Government College for Men, H-8, was established in 1969 and later H-9 College, which had been running under the government of Punjab since 1967, was brought under the federal government in 1974. All these institutions, including other F.G. colleges have their own history.

The alumni and retired teachers feel lost in wilderness where they cannot find their institutions with their historical names.

Fahad Sheikh, one of the old students of H-8 College, who had been serving abroad for a decade and came to Pakistan recently, went to his college to meet the teachers but found that his alma mater had got a new name.

“At first, I could not locate the college because the signboard narrated a different story. I had to spend a few minutes in determining that this was my alma mater.”

He said change in the name gave a feeling of extinction of a history. Change of names may mean tearing off the pages of golden history of these colleges. “Why have the names of Cambridge and Oxford not been changed?” he said.

Professor Khalida Makhdoom, a senior vice-president of Federal Government Colleges Teachers Association said, “The title “F.G. college” gives a vivid sense of government ownership which is indeed a matter of significance. The faculty members of F.G. colleges feel secure with the title of F.G.”

Tahir Mahmood, the spokesman for the teachers association, said the step taken by former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was in the interest of the public of the capital but bureaucratic hurdles let it down.

FDE spokesman Waqar Ashraf said the step was taken for the uniformity of education. In past, teachers of F.G. colleges had been demanding that they should get facilities of model setup.

“FDE has selected 50 F.G. institutions and has been providing facilities there. After completion of the first phase, the facilities will be provided to all F.G. institutes,” he said.