On the instruction of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has decided to refer the regularization case of 227 daily-wage teachers who passed the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) test and interview to the federal cabinet.
However, the instructors were perplexed as to why their appointment in the basic pay scale (BPS) 16 and 17 required the consent of the federal cabinet. Furthermore, they claimed that the finance division had established and alerted them of new positions.
When reached, Secretary Education Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry informed Dawn that he had instructed that the regularisation petition be filed, but that the court had ordered that the government regularize the instructors.
Also Read: Hope For Daily Wager Teachers to Be Regularized by the Government
According to a Supreme Court decision in the Mustafa Impex case, the government solely refers to the federal cabinet.
“It will be sent on Monday (6th Nov), and it is likely to be approved at the next cabinet meeting.” If we include the time it takes for cabinet minutes to be approved, it may take another two weeks or more.
The judgment, however, calls into doubt the recent regularization of 137 daily-wage teachers, for which no clearance from the federal cabinet was sought.
During the PPP’s rule from 2008 to 2013, a cabinet committee led by Syed Khursheed Shah was formed to oversee the regularization of daily wagers and contractual employees.
Tens of thousands of employees in dozens of ministries and divisions were regularized. A handful of employees/teachers were also regularized in the education ministry, while hundreds of others were let go as the PPP’s time came to a close.
The PML-N administration, which was in power until 2018, did not, however, resume the process of regularisation.
The instructors moved the IHC in 2018-19, which instructed the government to send their cases to the FPSC.
The FPSC administered examinations, but over half of the instructors who were warned did not take the tests and interviews, which were concluded in September 2023.
According to an instructor who requested anonymity, the FPSC produced a list of candidates who did not pass the examinations. They included some of the instructors who had been contacted.
“We were hopeful that we would be regularized within days after the FPSC notified us [227 teachers] for the service on September 26.”
However, the government reinstated 137 instructors who had not been approved by the FPSC. Surprisingly, several of the instructors who were regularized last month failed the FPSC exam. We don’t understand why we aren’t being regularized despite passing the FPSC exam and the finance division creating positions for us.”
He also questioned why 137 instructors who refused to take the FPSC test and those who failed were allowed to continue working without the agreement of the federal cabinet.
