CHAKWAL: The criterion for the hiring of the College Teacher Internees (CTI) has been changed to render any candidate with a third division at any level of their academic career ineligible.

Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashud claimed twice that these posts would be filled soon. In February, in an interview with a newspaper, he had said the recruitment process would be started by March 2014, but no action has been taken so far. There are more than 500 public sector colleges in Punjab where 4,500 seats of lecturers remain vacant.

“The government has decided not to announce recruitment for regular posts of lecturers but to continue using the CTIs as teachers and increasing their monthly salary from Rs15,000 to Rs30,000” said an official of the Punjab Higher Education Department.

“CTIs are affordable to hire as they are only paid for nine months compared to a lecturer who is paid for 12 months” a lecturer said.

Earlier, the eligibility criteria included MA/MSc in first or second division.

The new condition for the eligibility of CTIs has also closed the door for many candidates who have first or second divisions at the master’s levels but had gotten third divisions in matriculation or bachelor’s level.

This policy discriminates against those who have shown improvement in their academic scores over the years. The same policy does not exist for lecturers who only need to have a master’s degree with second or first division.

This condition is also causing much distress among many CTIs as they suddenly stand ineligible for the jobs they have been doing for the past many years.

“This is a cruelty against those who have passed their bachelor’s and master’s exams in the first or second division,” complained a former CTI.

“I have been serving as a CTI for the last four years but this year I stand ineligible as I got a third division in matriculation,” he added.

As a CTI is recruited only for eight to nine months, they lose their job as soon as the academic session is over and must reapply to be hired for the next year. “I was working at a private company but applied for CTI last year after which I quit my other job. The new condition has left me ineligible and despite having a master’s degree I am now jobless,” said another dejected young man.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Dr Zahid Sheikh, the president of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA), said the hiring of CTIs was an exploitation of educated youth.

He termed the condition of third division for the post of CTI ill-conceived and cruel. “Legally, this condition only applies on master’s degree. Therefore, it must be repealed,” he said.

Lashing out at the education department, Dr Shaikh said when 40-50 per cent seats for lecturers were vacant students would have no option but to go to private colleges. The students having no financial means to attend private colleges will lose out on a quality educational experience as they will be deprived of experienced and qualified teachers. The private sector colleges stand to gain from the inaction of the Punjab government.

“If they have to run the colleges through CTIs, they should have hired the CTIs during the summer break so that they could join the academic session on September 1.”

When contacted, Additional Secretary (Establishment) Higher Education Department Silwat Saeed claimed that a requisition for the recruitment of regular lecturers would be sent to the Punjab Public Service Commission soon. “We are working to resolve this issue,” she said.

When asked about the newly-introduced condition for ineligibility of those with third divisions in lower levels of their academic careers, she said the policy had been approved by the chief minister himself.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2014