ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training on Tuesday directed the education ministry and the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to reinstate more than 500 daily wage teachers, who were abruptly sacked by the department earlier this month.

In addition to the issues of the teachers, the meeting chaired by Senator Irfan Siddiqui discussed various agenda items, including recent vacant Pakistan chairs at global universities.

In light of the Senate panel’s order, the FDE-run schools and colleges on Tuesday evening directed the daily-wage teachers to re-join today.

“The authority has decided to allow the daily wagers to mark their biometric attendance and teaching of classes till further orders. Accordingly, all principals are requested to comply with the orders please,” an order issued by FDE in the evening said.

Seeks report on vacant Pakistan chairs within 10 days

During the meeting, Senator Siddiqui described the abrupt dismissal of teachers who had years of dedicated service as a criminal offence. He said that the teachers deserved better than abrupt terminations without proper justification.

The panel said the statements of FDE Acting Director General Amjad Ahmad and Model Colleges Acting Director Aftab Tariq about the issue of teachers were misleading.

The Senate committee referred the matter to the privileges committee for a thorough investigation and appropriate action against the two officials.

The committee chairman also criticised the “arbitrary interpretation of court decisions” that led to the dismissal of over 500 teachers, a move that “disregarded established legal principles”.

Earlier, the committee was informed that Education Secretary Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry could not participate in the meeting because of his engagement with the federal cabinet. However, the Senate body chairman sought his presence to discuss the “highly important issue of daily wage teachers”.

Subsequently, Mr Chaudhry joined the meeting. The committee members while addressing the secretary expressed strong dissatisfaction with the ministry’s unwarranted dismissal of teachers with over fifteen years of experience.

Rabia Waheed, a teacher representing the affected educators, provided a comprehensive account of the situation and presented relevant court decisions. Senator Irfan Siddiqui gave a ruling in favour of the immediate reinstatement of 551 teachers to their positions as of August 9. “We are thankful to the Senate committee and its chairman for resolving our issues. Following the directive of the committee, we have been asked by the FDE to re-join duties from Wednesday (today),” Ms Waheed told Dawn.

The committee also took up the issue of dismissal of the Montessori teachers, with assurances from the education secretary for their prompt reemployment. The issue of promotion of teachers and vice-principals of grades 17 and 18 within federal educational institutions was also addressed, with ministry officials assuring the committee of imminent and appropriate action.

Vacant Pakistan Chairs

After due consideration, the Senate body chairman tasked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to collaborate with the ministries of education and foreign affairs to address the matter of appointments to these chairs. The committee directed the HEC chairman to submit a report on this issue within 10 days.

There are Pakistan chairs at universities in Germany, Egypt, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and China and they have been vacant for six to 11 years.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2023