LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday finally appointed chairpersons to all nine Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs), on 18-month deputation, after two years.

The BISEs chairperson posts had been lying vacant and the boards were being run by divisional commissioners, who were assigned the additional charge.

According to a notification, the chairpersons have been appointed on deputation for 18 months with effect from July 1, 2026, under the Punjab Deputation Policy, 1998.

Engr Dr Badarul Islam, a professor at Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, has been posted as chairperson of Lahore BISE. Prof Dr Abdul Rauf of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur of Dera Ghazi Khan BISE, Dr Aqsa Shabbir of Lahore College for Women University of Gujranwala BISE, Dr Rana Binyamin of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, Multan, of Faisalabad BISE, and Iqbal Mahmood, Principal of Government Graduate College AbdullahPur, Faisalabad, as chairpersons of Rawalpindi BISE.

Similarly, Dr Ijaz Ahmad of the University of Education, Lahore, has been appointed chairperson of BISE Multan, Abbas Haider, Director in the Intelligence Bureau, to Sargodha BISE, Ishtiaq Ahmad, Director (IT) at the University of Sargodha, to Bahawalpur BISE, and Faisal Ijaz, Additional Controller of Examinations at the University of Gujrat, currently serving as controller of examinations at the Information Technology University, Lahore, has been appointed to Sahiwal BISE.

The notification says the appointments will remain effective until Dec 31, 2027, on standard terms and conditions of the deputation policy.

The newly appointed chairpersons will also receive a special chairman BISE allowance equal to one initial basic pay, as approved by the provincial cabinet.

The prolonged absence of full-time BISEs heads had raised concerns in education circles over delays in administrative decision-making and implementation of examination reforms.

Punjab Minister for School Education and Higher Education Rana Sikandar Hayat termed the appointments an important milestone in the government’s education reforms agenda. “The merit-based appointments of chairpersons to Punjab’s educational boards are an important step towards making the examination system more transparent and effective,” the minister said.

Congratulating the newly appointed chairpersons, he said he hoped they would carry forward educational reforms with integrity, professionalism and a strong sense of responsibility.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2026