1,600 Teachers Waiting For Permanent Status Despite Court Order

Islamabad: As many as 1,600 honorary teachers of Cantonment Garrison schools are still seeking permanent status despite the court order that asked the relevant authorities for the regularisation and age relaxation of the temporary staff.


According to the information available to this scribe, the number of Cantonment Garrison schools across the country is around 300, where honorary teachers are performing their duties in second shift in a minimal salary that ranges between Rs3,000 to Rs6,000, while a considerable number of teachers have been performing their duties for more than 25 years.

The Directorate of Federal Government Education Institution (Cantonment/Garrison) - FGEI (C/G) - and its regional offices are 'sub-ordinate offices' of Ministry of Defence under rules 3(3) and 4(4) of Rules of Business 1973 in a similar way as the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is an attached department of the Education Ministry under the same rules.

The system of appointing honorary teachers was introduced after the imposition of ban on fresh inductions in all cadres (BPS-1 to BPS-20) by the government in 1992 but even after lifting the ban, the system continued to cater to the requirement of the second shift and additional classes in schools and colleges due to the pressure of admissions.

For about 20 years, the matter of regularisation of teachers has been hanging in the balance either on one pretext or the other. The teachers currently working in different garrison schools are competent enough to get permanent status, as majority of them hold the qualifications of FA, CT, BSc, BEd, MA, and MEd, which is the eligibility criterion for the teaching staff.

Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, in its order sheet last month asked the concerned authority to give permanent status to the temporary teachers, as SM Tasnim, (Administration Officer) FGEI Directorate, Rawalpindi, in compliance to the court's order dated February 26, 2010, had appeared in the court to state that the case of petitioners for regularisation, including age relaxation and creation of posts, has been submitted to the prime minister, though a summary decision is awaited.

However, the temporary teachers are still dubious about their future, as according to them, the authority would only give permanent status to a limited staff while the rest would have to take the tests and interviews. "We have been told that those having experience of less than 10 years will have to appear for test and interview for getting permanent status. This criterion is above our understanding, as we had appeared in tests and interviews before getting our jobs as temporary teachers," claimed a teacher.

According to a teacher requesting anonymity, the authorities are reluctant to regularise honorary teachers in order to save a big amount of money that they receive in the form of fee. The total fee of primary section is Rs160 where Rs30 is tuition fee, Rs30 is student fee, Rs4 is library fund, Rs8 is sports fund, Rs15 is building fund, Rs8 is furniture fund, and Rs65 is Regional Development Fund (RDF).

"The amount of fee for secondary section is Rs171 and the amount is even higher for high section. Honorary teachers are paid salaries from the student funds and RDF, while the salaries are not paid during summer vacations despite the fact that fee is received from students during vacations," claimed the teacher. The teacher said they have become overage while serving the school and are now ineligible for tests and interviews. "We never get a call for interview or test even if we apply for the posts, as we are overage now," said a teacher.

According to the teachers, they could be fired from their jobs, whenever the administrations desires, as they don't have any permanent status. Meanwhile, the temporary teachers don't have any of the facility provisioned to the permanent staff. "We can only avail a 10-day maternity leave and that too without salary, and are allowed only 10 casual leaves per year," they said.

Senior Joint Secretary Ministry of Defence Moosa Raza Affendi said they have already sent the summary for the regularisation of temporary teachers besides the age relaxation to the prime minister. "As soon as the summary gets approval, the honorary teachers will be given permanent status," he said.

Rejecting the teachers' reservation regarding permanent status to be given to only limited staff, he said the summary has been prepared according to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Defence, where every teacher serving in the Cantonment Garrison schools would get permanent status. "We have also asked for a minimum of three-year age relaxation for the teachers, currently working under Cantonment Garrison schools," he added.

He also rejected the accusations regarding funds' embezzlement, saying that they have a record of every single penny collected in the form of students fee. The news