SWABI, Oct 13: Transfer of teachers ordered by the outgoing education minister, Maulana Fazle Ali, has been withheld by the district coordination officer.

Sources have told Dawn that before their transfer, the DCO wanted district nazim Shahram Khan’s nod. The district nazim might stop the transfers.

The sources said that Hussain Ahmad, district general-secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl), never allowed the transfer of a teacher without his approval during the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government.

The sources added that when the dissolution of the provincial assembly seemed imminent, Mr Ahmad ordered the DCO, on behalf of the former education minister, to transfer teachers to various stations. The order was aimed at scoring the last political point, increasing the party’s influence ahead of the general elections.