PESHAWAR, Dec 4: NWFP Minister for Education Maulana Fazle Ali Haqqani on Monday directed authorities concerned to immediately appoint teachers against sanctioned posts and said that it was necessary to remove shortage of teaching staff in the province and to improve educational standards in public sector institutions.

He was presiding over a meeting of EDOs (Education) of all 24 districts of the province here on Monday. Provincial Secretary of Schools and Literacy Shafiullah Khan, officers of finance and education departments, representatives of the GTZ, a German NGO, attended the meeting.The minister said that during the past four years, the MMA had appointed a record number of teachers on merit.

The minister took serious notice of press reports about alleged malpractices in appointment of teachers in certain districts and warned that no one would be allowed to violate merit.

He ordered reactivation of parents-teachers’ associations in schools to improve the monitoring system and to ensure the just utilisation of funds by school administrations.

He also directed officials concerned to complete paper work so that teachers could be appointed in BPS-15 and BPS-14 as soon as possible.

Fazle Ali Haqqani also took serious note of the presence of ghost schools in the province and directed authorities to collect data so that they could be made operational at the earliest.—APP