LAHORE, Feb 12: Punjab Education Minister Imran Masood has reportedly directed the executive district officers (education) to follow the instructions of the education secretary instead of district Nazims.

The minister issued this direction while speaking at an EDOs' conference at the University of Education here on Thursday. He told the EDOs that they were bound to follow the instructions of the Punjab Education Department as they were department's representatives in the districts.

Although the minister sought explanation from the Rajanpur and Khushab EDOs for not attending the previous conference held last month, the department officials told Dawn that 10 EDOs, including that of Lahore, remained absent from the moot.

The minister later asked Education Secretary (schools) Hasan Nawaz Tarrar to seek a written explanation from the absent EDOs and suspend those who didn't attend the conference without any valid reason within three days.

He also asked the EDOs to adopt a role of a bridge between the Education Department and the district governments instead of creating misunderstandings. He said some of the EDOs were ignoring the department or district government's orders.

He said the funds of Rs7 billion for the education sector reforms had been provided by the Punjab government, which deserved the credit. He said each district had been provided Rs150 million, which needed to be properly utilized under the direct supervision of EDOs.

The funds in future would be distributed among the districts on the basis of performance, he added. Mr Masood also took strong notice of transfers and postings made by some EDOs despite ban in the province. He directed the secretary (schools) to submit a detailed report in this regard.

Meanwhile, some EDOs told Dawn that the district Nazims were insisting that the provincial government had signed the terms of partnership (ToPs) with the district governments for implementation and funds had been transferred to the district accounts.

Therefore, they said, they were bound to follow the instructions of the Nazims in spending the funds to develop missing facilities in schools. Chief minister's adviser Syed Mowahid Husain said the CM had asked the EDOs to send proposals for the award of incentives to teachers, students and schools for their best performance.