The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Workers Welfare Board has suspended 15 principals across the province following poor performance in the matriculation examinations, it emerged on Sunday.

According to a September 4 notification seen by Dawn.com, the suspensions were carried out “on account of producing poor results in SSC annual examinations 2024-2025”.

The suspended principals include those at schools in Akora Khattak, Aman Garh, Ghoriwala and Haripur-II. Similarly, the principals of schools in Hattar, Karak, Kohat-I, and Kohat-II have also been removed.

The action further extends to the principals in Peshawar-II, Mardan, Shehbaz Azmat Khel, Swabi and Swat, along with the principals of an institution in Takht Bhai and a higher secondary school.

“The vice principals of the concerned schools shall look after the duties of principal as [a] stopgap arrangement in their own pay scale till further orders,” the notification read.

“However, where the vice principals are not available, the seniormost employee (BPS-16/17)/acting vice principal shall look after the duties of principal as [a] stopgap arrangement in their own pay scale till further orders.”

KP Labour Minister Fazal Shakoor Khan told Dawn.com that the suspension was solely based on the performance of the teachers.

‘’We have zero per cent results in the mentioned schools,’’ he said. “The department has enough teachers, but we lack specialists in subjects other than Islamiyat and Pashto.”

Khan said that the majority of teachers in the department are from southern districts

“We have 80 to 90pc of our staff from southern KP. Each of them wants to be appointed in their home district, which is practically impossible,” he said