Posts for Bhara Kahu college approved

Several education institutions in the federal capital are being run by ‘borrowed’ staff because the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) could not get the posts approved by relevant ministries.

These include Islamabad Model School (IMS) I-9/4, IMSG I-14, IMSG G-11, IMSG G-11/2, two primary schools in the CBR housing colony and Sohan Colony, Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB) Sihala, IMCG I-8/3 and IMCG I-14. Except for the college in Sihala, which opened more recently, the rest of the institutes are being run by borrowed staff for about five years.

However, the PC-4 for the creation of the posts and budget for IMCG Bhara Kahu was approved by the Planning Commission recently, even though the college was only inaugurated last year.

“The Planning Commission approved the PC-4 of the Bhara Kahu college for girls because a minister has a personal interest in it. Otherwise, the fate of the rest is still undecided,” a CADD official said.

The official said that 54 vacancies in the college were approved by the planning commission the summary for which will now be moved to the ministry of finance for approval. After this, the FDE will fill the posts in the college with regular staff.

“We are not against this happening, but the PC-4 of all institutions should have been approved because they are being run by borrowed staff from other institutions for many years,” he said.

FDE run educational institutions are facing a shortage of staff with over 1,300 posts lying vacant.

When asked, a senior FDE official confirmed that the PC-4 of the Bhara Kahu college was approved with 54 posts and that the remaining cases were pending for many years.

The CADD ministry is also yet to resolve the issue of daily wage teachers, who have been asking for their services to be regularised for many years.

“Those who fulfil the criteria and have been producing good results should be given a chance and the rest should be sent home, but this important issue should not be left pending,” and FDE official said.

Conference on Balochistan concludes

Speakers at a national conference on Balochistan urged the government to provide adequate educational and employment opportunities as well as the equal distribution of resources to the people of Balochistan.

A two-day national conference titled ‘Dialogue on Balochistan: The Way Forward Towards National Integration’ organised by the National University Modern Languages (Numl) concluded on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Lt Gen Abdur Qadir Baloch said the state should provide the people of Balochistan with education and employment opportunities.

The minister said the people of Balochistan should be given equal rights.

National Security Advisor retired Lt Gen Nasir Khan Janjua spoke on geo-political interests of foreign powers and the role of the military in normalising the security situation in Balochistan.

Dr Talat Anwar, advisor centre for policy studies at Comsats presented his paper on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as a game changer and its prospects and challenges while Anwarul Haq Kakar, the spokesperson for the Government of Balochistan spoke on ‘Balochistan: The Way Forward’.

At the end, Numl Rector retired Maj Gen Ziaud Din Najam said the conference was aimed at understanding the issues of Balochistan and suggesting ways to solve them.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017