PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday issued a stay order, temporarily stopping the elementary and secondary education department from assigning management roles to more teaching staff.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan gave the chief secretary and elementary and secondary education (E&SE) secretary a fortnight to respond to a petition jointly filed by 24 officers of the department’s management cadre against the posting of teaching cadre officers to the positions meant for them.

The petitioners sought the court’s orders for the implementation of the National Education Policy and superior court judgements on the matter, and services rules about their cadre.

They also requested the court to order authorities to “adjust” them to management cadre positions.

Seeks its response to plea against management cadre postings

Jaffar Mansoor Abbasi and 23 other petitioners, who are working in grades from BPS-16 to BPS-19, called for interim relief by restraining the department from posting teachers to management positions until their petition was decided.

The respondents in the petition include the provincial government through its chief secretary, and secretaries of the establishment and elementary and secondary education departments.

During the hearing, the bench wondered that on one hand officers of teaching cadre had been posted against posts of management cadre, and on the other hand the management cadre officers were made officer on special duty and paid salaries for not performing any work.

Advocate Khalid Rehman appeared for the petitioners and pointed out that for the purpose of adjustment of teaching cadre officers to posts for management cadre in May 2024, 24 officers of that cadre were placed at the disposal of the directorate of the elementary and secondary education in violation of the law and superior court judgements.

He said that the federal government formulated the National Education Policy, 2009, deciding in principle to separate management and teaching cadres in the education delivery system as the modern day education management demanded professional standards and expertise.

The lawyer argued that the matter was also placed before the provincial cabinet, which accorded approval to the creation of the two cadres, which was notified on May 4, 2009.

He pointed out that the new structure provided the management cadre’s hierarchical setup from BPS-16 to BPS-20 along with terms and conditions for appointments and promotions.

Mr Rehman pointed out that the issue of such bifurcation of management and teaching cadres first arose before the high court wherein the court on Nov 18, 2009, had ruled that it was not befitting for highly qualified teachers to hold administrative posts and they should go to their respective posts where they were required to do a job.

He argued that rules for the management cadre were amended to some extent through a notification on April 7, 2012, to ‘make in-roads for the transfer of teaching cadre officers’ but the move was challenged in the high court.

The lawyer added that the court had accepted that petition and had declared the said modifications in rules as illegal.

He contended that the provincial government was bound to implement the National Education Policy providing for segregation of the two cadres for efficient performance and desired results in the education sector.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024