THATTA, Oct 18: Sindh Secretary for Education Ghulam Ali Pasha has suspended 60 employees of the education department, including assistant district officers and a principal, after a surprise visit to 10 academic institutions of Thatta town.

He raided schools and colleges where he found about 60 of them absent from duty, so he suspended them in absentia.

Mr Pasha also directed issuance of show cause notice to a vocational centre teacher, Ishrat Jehan, for absence from duty since February.

Those suspended include ADO (male) Noor Ahmed Memon; ADO (female) Raheela; principal, Government Girls Degree College, Shamsunnisa Uqaili, and lecturers, Ummul Habib, Noor Jehan, Rashida Bano and Zubaida Shaikh; lecturer, Government Boys Degree College, Zulfiqar Ali; teachers, Government Girls High School, Nasira Bano, Siddiqa Begum and Nargis Memon.