LAKKI MARWAT: The district steering committee will initiate disciplinary action against the heads of schools not observing school’s official timings. 

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by deputy commissioner Mohammad Bakhtiar Khan here on Friday.

Assistant commissioner Sher Alam Khan, Independent Monitoring Unit’s (IMU) district monitoring officer Amjad Meraj, district education officers Haziqur Rehman and Zubaida Hanif, and other relevant officials were in attendance. 

The meeting took up matters pertaining to absent teaching and non-teaching staff, closed and non-functional schools and other relevant matters of education department.

Mr Meraj briefed the deputy commissioner on working mechanism of IMU, saying the data of absent teachers and other employees as well as closed and non-functional schools was shared with the authorities of elementary and secondary education department (ESED) for action against absent and derelict employees.

“There was no nonfunctional boys school,” he maintained, urging the need for bringing improvement in the girls schools.

An ESED official informed the meeting that besides deduction of salaries from the salaries of absent employees the department also issued warnings to the schools’ bosses over non-implementation of school timings in letter and spirit.

Deputy commissioner Mohammad Bakhtiar Khan warned that the schools’ heads would face stern action if found guilty of not observing school timings.

“Just issuing an explanation notice or a warning is not sufficient,” he said, adding the school heads would be made an example if they didn’t quit the practice of closing educational institutions before time.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2015