ISLAMABAD: The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) is yet to appoint a director general of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), which is currently being run without a head.
The retirement of the FDE DG Shahnaz A. Riaz on Friday was not a surprise for CADD, as she retired after reaching the age of superannuation and timely action for appointing a new DG to head the directorate, which looks after the affairs of 422 educational institutions in the federal capital, could have been taken.
“The process for the appointment of a new DG should have been completed before the retirement of the outgoing DG because everyone knew she was retiring, but various lobbies played a role in a permanent appointment not being made on time,” a source in CADD said.
He added well connected FDE officers wanted look-after charge and some even have good connections in CADD.
“CADD issued a notification in August informing concerned directorates that the DG will retire after attaining the age of superannuation in December and it is strange that the process of making an appointment on the post was not started,” he said.
According to the rules, the senior most director in the FDE is eligible for being appointed as DG, as are senior principals of degree colleges.
Last month, the outgoing DG had informed CADD that Director Planning and Development Taj Bhatti is the senior most director, followed by Zulfiqar Ali and Tanveer Ahmed, though in her note she has said that all three are not fit for the post of DG.
Currently, the director planning and the director estates, Tanveer Ahmed are at loggerheads over seniority while Zulfiqar Ali seems uninterested in the race for the post and according to sources, he has not contacted anyone in this regard yet.
Three principals of women’s degree colleges who are working in grade 20 have also started lobbying to be appointed to the post of DG.
Firdous Fatima of the Margalla College is the most senior principal followed by Samar Zafar who heads the home economics college and Nusrat Zia of Humak Degreee College.
“We are confused because if we appoint someone from the FDE, we may not get the desired results and if we appoint a principal on the post, they may not prove to be good administrators. If an outsider is appointed, there are chances of new litigation, so we are considering all of these options,” said a CADD officer, who requested to not be named.
Some FDE officials claim that CADD moved a list containing the names of five principals to the establishment division for onward submission to the Prime Minister Office for making an appointment as DG FDE.
When asked, CADD Joint Secretary Ayesha Farooq said efforts were being made for early appointment of a DG, but did not share the names of the candidates for the post.
In reply to a question, she said: “I cannot say anything about the delay. I was given this assignment just a few days ago, so I cannot say much in this regard,” she said.
Meanwhile, sources say some FDE officials are trying to get look after charge of the directorate until a permanent appointment is made.
“Everyone is acting like the DG in the FDE,” said a school teacher, who visited the directorate on Wednesday.
Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2016
