MANSEHRA: The district administration on Saturday directed the local education department to sack absentee teachers and get FIRs registered against those, who have hired the services of proxy teachers to perform their duty at girls and boys schools.

The directions were issued by deputy commissioner Aameer Khattak to the officials of the education department during a meeting in his office here.

The deputy commissioner, who heads government departments in the district, said the services of absentee teachers would be terminated immediately and that FIRs would be lodged against those who had hired proxy teachers to perform their duty.

He said he had learned that over 100 male and female teachers had long been absent from duty, while dozens had hired untrained teachers on meagre payments to perform their duty.

“I am shocked to see such a poor state of affairs in the education department. We are left with no option but to terminate absentee teachers,” he said.

The meeting was called to examine the existing education system in light of the current law and order situation and absenteeism of teachers at government schools.

The participants also discussed hurdles to the provision of quality education to the people in the district.

Khattak said the chief minister wanted good educational facilities for students in all districts of the province and therefore, the Mansehra administration was making every effort to ensure that.

District education officer (male) Mohammad Abdullah said 147 of a total of 461 mosque schools in the district had been merged with the nearest government primary schools in the district, while the merger of the rest couldn’t take place due to high enrolment of students there.

Other DEOs said security checks were being put in place at and around schools for the safety of students and staff members.

They said 231 schools for boys and four for girls in the district had no boundary walls, while 134 schools for boys and 28 for girls didn’t have proper buildings.

The officials said 328 posts of male teachers and 52 of female teachers had long been lying vacant and that they had turned out to be a big hurdle to provision of quality education to the local population.

They also said 62 posts of non-teaching male and 44 female staff were also vacant at local schools.

The deputy commissioner said he would take up the matter with the relevant authorities for early action.

ASWJ PROTEST: The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat on Saturday protested targeted killing of a leader in Karachi.

The protesters gathered at Abbasi Chowk and showed slogans against the government over what they called its failure to protect the life of ASWJ leaders and activists in the country, especially in Karachi.

The body of Maulana Yasir, who was killed in Karachi on Friday, was taken to Abbasi Chowk and then shifted to Chaterplan area of the district for burial.

On the occasion, ASWJ leader Niaz Farooqi said the party workers were being target killed in Karachi and other parts of the country but the government was indifferent to the killings.

“We are peaceful and will not take the law into our own hands. However, this should not be considered our weakness,” he said.

He demanded protection of ASWJ leaders and activists in the country.

Published in Dawn March 1st , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play