QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti has decided to sack 2,000 teachers over prolonged absence and fill vacancies in the education department on contractual basis.

The decision was taken on Monday during a meeting of the education de­­partment to discuss several issues, including the teachers’ absence, non-functional schools and the shortage of academic staff.

The meeting was attended by Balochistan Chief Sec­retary Shakeel Qadir Khan, Additional Chief Secretary (Deve­lopment and Planning) Abdul Saboor Kakar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Imran Zarkoon, and other officials.

CM Bugti expressed serious concerns over the teachers’ absence and decided to terminate them from service.

CM vows to rid education department of unnecessary interference

He ordered the chief secretary to complete the termination process within two months.

The meeting also decided to install biometric systems in schools to ensure the attendance of teachers, and the head of the educational institution will be responsible for making the system functional.

The officials told the CM that a pilot project for the biometric system would be initially launched in Dera Bugti and Musakhail.

The CM directed officials to add local bodies’ representatives to the district education boards for holding the teachers accountable.

He said quality education was important for the bright future of generations, and “there will be no compromise on it”.

He vowed to rid the education department of all unnecessary interference, and the appointments will be made on merit without any political pressure.

The CM said he’ll make surprise visits to remote areas of Balochistan to assess the conditions of educational institutions and no leniency would be shown if teachers were found absent.

On the issue of non-functional schools, CM Bugti said the issue was nuanced.

Non-functional schools aren’t only those where teachers, support staff or students are absent, but also schools where buildings are being used for private purposes by influential individuals, the CM explained.

Mr Bugti said that he won’t claim to fix all issues during his term but would “at least determine the right direction” for the education sector.

Education Secretary Saleh Mohammad Naseer told the meeting that there were over 80,000 government teachers, more than 7,000 single-room schools and around 3,300 non-functional schools in Balochistan.

He said the provincial government is spending Rs5,625 every month to provide education to a single child, but the amount is not resulting in high outcomes.

Despite spending millions of rupees on the education sector, the statistics of out-of-school children, ghost teachers and non-functional schools paint a grim picture.

An official of the education department said nearly 3,500 schools have shut down during the last couple of months due to the shortage of teachers.

“The provincial education department is facing an acute shortage of staff and has been unable to recruit teachers since 2019 due to political and departmental constraints.”

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2024