ISLAMABAD: The appointment of the heads of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and two other departments of the education ministry has been facing an inordinate delay, badly affecting their working.

The FDE, which is a regulatory body of 431 schools and colleges in Islamabad, is being run on ad hoc basis for the last over one year. The DG post is of grade 21.

The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training a few weeks ago had sent a summary carrying three names for the appointment of one of them as the DG to the Prime Minister Office.

After a competitive process, the ministry sent three names – Noreen Ayaz, assistant professor at the Institute of Business Administration Karachi with teaching experience in various universities, Dr Shahid Razzaq, adviser engineering development board and Assistant Professor Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), and Dr Tariq Mehmood, dean and associate professor at the Health Service Academy.

Process to fill posts faces inordinate delay affecting working of departments, say officials

Sources said that last week the summary was referred back to the education ministry to address some questions. The summary with additional information was resubmitted to the PM Office a few days ago.

“The government had referred back the summary to us with some questions. After adding answers, we sent back the summary to the PM Office,” said an official of the education ministry.

“We are hopeful that soon the FDE will get a regular DG,” he said.

The post of DG at the FDE has been lying vacant since July last year. Since then the education ministry is running the affairs of the directorate under ad hoc arrangements. The post fell vacant on July 31, 2023, after the abrupt removal of Dr Ikram Ali Malik following his opposition to the ministry’s initiative of handing over a government school’s plot in the prime sector of F-11 worth around Rs21 billion to a private firm under public-private partnership.

Meanwhile, last week the education ministry after short-listing three names for the post of Managing Director National Book Foundation (NBF) sent a summary to the PM Office for appointment of a regular MD.

“Recently, we sent a summary of three short-listed candidates to the PM Office for picking one of the suitable candidates for the post of MD NBF,” said an official of the ministry.

The post at the foundation has been vacant since June this year when Dr Raja Mazhar Hameed completed his tenure. Renowned educationist Dr Kamran Jahangir is on top of the list. Dr Jahangir served as an adviser at the Comsat Secretariat from 2017-21 and also served as Director General of National University of Modern Languages (Numl). He holds a PhD degree in Management of Policy and Reforms.

Former deputy director general Tanwir Ahmed of FDE, who also served temporarily as the DG FDE before his retirement in August this year, is on the second number. He holds an MS degree in Project Management. The third candidate is Ejaz Shah, who holds master’s degrees in arts and public administration policy.

According to the NBF website, it was established in 1972 as a service rendering educational welfare organisation. It is a statutory corporation created through an Act of parliament in order to make books available at moderate prices. It has its head office in Islamabad and regional offices at each provincial headquarters and branch offices and bookshops.

Meanwhile, the post of chairman Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) is also lying vacant since May this year and being run under ad hoc arrangements.

The post fell vacant when the then chairman Qaiser Alam was removed by the federal government. The education ministry had started the process to hire a new chairman but it has been facing delay.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024