April 06, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 5: The fate of 532 daily wage teachers working in the model colleges of Islamabad for the last 10 years hangs in balance as there is no sign of their services being regularised, some of the affected teachers said.

These teachers have been hired on a fixed salary of Rs6,000 per month with no other benefits. They don’t get any annual increment as admissible to other employees nor can they avail any holidays except for one-day leave in a month.

Deduction is made from their meagre salary if they take an extra leave—even if it is for a single day for an emergency. They are not entitled to long summer vacations and their wages are cut. They are given an 89-day agreement which is renewed after the expiry of the said period.

These lecturers include about 282 male and 250 female working in 19 model colleges for boys and girls. Most of them have become overage and not eligible to apply for the vacancies filled through the Federal Public Service Commission.

There is no relaxation for them in age or any other condition set for candidates. They said, at times, they were given assurances that they would be absorbed on permanent positions. For years, they have been writing to the prime minister, the education minister and other authorities reminding them of the promise and the precarious situation they have been in but to no avail, they said.

Only a few months back, they had three meetings with high officials of the PM secretariat and education department. They said that the PM even issued directives for making all these teachers permanent but these were not implemented.

On the other hand, the teachers alleged that about 135 of their colleagues who were able to find some connections with the authorities were absorbed in different stages. But those having no approach stand nowhere and their careers are at stake.

The teachers said there were about 1000 openings in different colleges under the Federal Directorate of Education. As a result of this huge gap, students have also been suffering. The process of the Federal Public Service Commission is very long and time- consuming. They said that the teachers who had been teaching for the last 10 years were expert in their respective fields. Their adverse condition, however, has left them totally demoralised and dejected that they cannot utilise their full potential.

The daily wage lecturers have drawn government attention to their plight and demanded regularisation of their services.

When the FDE spokesman contacted, he declined to comment.