ISLAMABAD: A three-member committee formed by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has started the process to conduct hearings of teachers working under deputation and wedlock policy in the federal capital.

The committee on Monday collected the required information from 32 teachers, and the process will be completed by Friday. Almost 200 teachers will appear before the committee. The teachers working under the wedlock policy had earlier raised their concerns that the committee was biased towards them.

The FDE in December last year had issued repatriation orders of all the teachers citing orders of a single bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). However, the teachers filed an appeal before IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who last month scrapped the notification for repatriation of the teachers to their parent departments.

Justice Minallah directed the FDE director general to pass a speaking order explaining why the teachers were being repatriated to their respective provinces after hearing them individually. Following the IHC orders, the FDE formed the committee.

On the other hand, the teachers alleged that members of the committee were inimical to the continuation of their services in FDE and had umpteenth times ill-advised and misguided the court through misinterpretation of previous court orders. They said the FDE director schools on April 2, 2018, had recommended to the then controlling ministry, Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) that “Rule 20-A of Civil Servants (APT) Rules 1973 exempts a specific group of employees [including teachers in the education institutions under the FDE] whose services are borrowed under the wedlock policy after completion of five-year term.”

In 2015, according to the teachers, the then director schools FDE Farida Yasmin (vide letter number F.9-14/2015/FDE 20-05-2015) had also recommended to the ministry to permanently absorb the deputationist teachers up to scale 14 after completion of their five-year term and those who fall under the wedlock policy and exempt them from repatriation under rule 20-A. They said former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had also ordered absorption of teachers working in the capital under the wedlock policy.

When contacted, a member of the committee said the committee’s mandate was just to collect required information such as history of service, previous record and so on.

“We are not supposed to decide the fate of the teachers rather are collecting the required information. The final decision will be taken by the FDE director general and the ministry,” he said and added that IHC’s latest orders will be implemented in true spirit.

He said the committee had no personal issue with anyone and “this committee is working in the light of the judgment of IHC” and objections being raised by teachers are illogical.

The committee has been conducting proceedings under strict observance of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2021