ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: A year after the prime minister ordered to bring “uniformity” to the 'Model' and normal colleges of the federal government in the city, all that his bureaucracy has done is to rename them all as model colleges.

“That certainly was not what the PM meant,” says Tahir Mehmood, general secretary of the Federal Government Colleges Teachers Association (FGTCA), who has been fighting against the special status enjoyed by the Model colleges and for uniform education system in the Islamabad institutions.

“The intent (of the prime minister) was not for a uniform name but for abolishing the three parallel education systems and equal opportunities to all colleges unfairly restricted to Model setups,” he told Dawn .

Addition of the prefix 'Model' on their signboards has brought none of the facilities and privileges - like funds for buildings, matching seniorities and centralised admissions system - that the original Model colleges have enjoyed since their establishment.

“Visit a Federal Government school or college and then any real Model one, and the difference would be obvious to you. Just the furniture and decorations inside the classrooms set them apart.

We (in the simple F.G. colleges and schools) only recently switched from the chalk-and-duster culture to the white board and marker,” said one senior F.G. lecturer in the H-8 College for Boys, ruing the conditions in his classroom.

Teachers of the old F.G. colleges demand a centralised admissions system, stressing that unfairness was not limited just to them but extends to their students also.

“All these years the brightest of the students in Islamabad were admitted to Model colleges while the normal F.G. schools and colleges were burdened with the not so bright. Slow learners have thus been deprived of a competitive environment where brighter classmates could at least inspire them to work harder,” observed another lecturer in H-9 College.

Seniority counts much in the bureaucracy. But the lecturers of the federal government setup feel denied of that when both F.G. and Model College teachers had been hired through the same procedures in the Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC).

“There are two queues for promotions – one for the lecturers of Model Colleges and the other for the rest. Funnily, despite the conversion, a lecturer from the H-9 or H-8 F.G. colleges cannot be transferred to Islamabad College for Boys in G-6 or Islamabad Model College for Boys F-8 and vice versa,” said the general secretary FGCTA.

Perhaps the worst discrimination that hurts these lecturers is that while their children are charged half fee in their own colleges they have to pay full fee if their child is bright enough to get admission in a Model institute.

Though government officials assure efforts are underway to bring uniformity “across the board” they put no date when the standards and opportunities would be same for all.

Joint Educational Adviser and spokesperson for Capital Administration Development Division (CADD) Rafique Tahir firmly said that it was not possible to achieve all that they wished for.