August 19, 2008	Tuesday	Sha’aban 16, 1429

PESHAWAR, Aug 18: The former Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government has been accused of recruiting 2,675 untrained teachers without test and interview in Dera Ismail Khan, the native district of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who was then leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

MPA Israrullah Gandapur of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) raised the issue in the NWFP Assembly during a question-answer session here on Monday. Speaker Kiramatullah Khan Chagharmati presided over the proceedings.

He said details provided by the education department revealed that 1,567 male and 1,108 female teachers had been recruited against various posts in public sector schools in the Dera Ismail Khan district during the last five years. He said the authorities had not conducted test and interview for appointment of teachers in primary and middle schools.

He said the assembly should constitute a committee to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Provincial Minister for Education Sardar Hussain Babak agreed to hand over the issue to the house’s education committee.

Speaker Chagharmati observed that documents related to the issue had not been distributed among the members and, therefore, the matter had been kept pending and would be discussed in the next proceedings.

The state of education in the Kohistan district also came under discussion. PML-N MPA from Kohistan Abdul Sattar Khan pointed out that a majority of schools in the district were without teachers and other basic facilities.

He said there were only three middle schools for girls in the entire district, and one of them was non-functional. Quoting education department statistics, he said that of 94 primary schools in the PF-63 constituency, 24 institutions were non-functional because of non-availability of teachers, adding that there was no college for boys in the district.

He said the government should give priority to the district and recruit teachers to overcome the shortage of teaching staff. He further said the previous government had planned to establish a college in the area, but the project could not be materialised.

Saqibullah Chamkani of the Awami National Party drew attention of the house towards deteriorating condition of schools in the PF-11 constituency of Peshawar. Identifying six non-functional schools in the area, he said there was shortage of teaching staff in many schools and teachers remained absent from duties. He suggested that the education department should recruit teachers or transfer surplus teachers from other areas to the schools in the area.

MPA Dr Zakirullah Khan raised the issue of property of the Islamia College, Peshawar, saying its commercial property, including shops and cabins in Peshawar and Charsadda, had been rented out on nominal rates.

He said 413 shops of the Islamia College Trust had been rented out to lawyers for offices, shopkeepers and newspaper owners at prime locations in Peshawar and Charsadda districts. He proposed that the government should revise rent of the Islamia College property according to the current market rate. He said the college could be self-sufficient if the provincial government increased rent of its shops and markets, suggesting formation of a committee to look into the matter.

Minister for Higher Education Qazi Assad said the government wanted to increase the rent of the Islamia College Trust property, but the matter was pending in the high court. The speaker asked him to pursue the case in the court.

Sikander Irfan of the ANP pointed out alleged illegal appointment of employees in the health sector in the Swabi district. He said 82 appointments had been made in hospitals and basic health units in the district without fulfilling legal requirements. He said salaries were being withdrawn by these employees without performing duties.