Teachers' families against government hiring policy

Teachers' families seek CJP help against govt's hiring policy
Islamabad, Oct 13: Suffering great hardships due to hiring policy of the government, thousands of families of schoolteachers have written an application to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of the issue to help them get out of the situation.

The representatives of the schoolteachers have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on humanitarian grounds to direct the authorities concerned either to ensure the availability of funds for hiring of houses or pay them ceiling with the salary.

Since the stoppage of the funds for hiring of residential accommodation for the teachers of schools, the Federal Directorate of Education has informed them clearly that they cannot cater to the needs of all the employees, as they are not given sufficient budget for the purpose.

And due to shortage of funds the directorate has also stopped the registration of fresh cases who wants to apply to get hiring facility. It has also kept the hiring cases on the waiting list pending, which has doubled the miseries of the teachers who had been waiting for their turn for many months.

Currently as many as 4,123 teachers from all the schools and colleges including Model and Federal have been registered for the facility and getting amount to rent houses. And nearly 1,109 cases are pending waiting for their turn. In the financial year 2009-10 the directorate had demanded 54 million for 4,843 candidates in terms of hiring but only Rs 18 million has been allocated by the Finance Division for the year.

"Teachers coming from far-flung areas of the four provinces have practically no place to reside in as it is impossible for them to rent a house either in Islamabad or in Rawalpindi" one of the teachers informed.

Our only hope is to get a house on hiring basis, though, the amount paid in terms of hiring is very low and not according to the market rates. But now this facility has also dwindled and the employees are finding it very difficult to get a house on hiring, he further added.

It has been learnt that a teacher working in the schools of the Federal Capital in grade 14 to 16 only gets Rs 7750 monthly in terms of rental ceiling for hiring of residential accommodation which even if paid to the teacher on time is not sufficient to find a house in the capital.

Thus they are compelled to settle down in the suburbs of the capital city, and daily travelling from schools to their homes in the absence of any transportation facility has made their job more difficult. The nation

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Students face transport problem in twin cities
Islamabad: Students in the twin cities are facing worst transport problem as most of them are seen clinging to the threshold of vehicles and sitting on the rooftops of coasters and busses.

"In the morning reaching education institutions is a difficult task for us as transporters are not willing to give any space because of the fare concession for students," said Zahid, a student of Islamabad Model College for Boys F-8/4.

"On seeing a group of students at bus stop, the bus drivers do not stop at Faizabad and other major stops because they do not want students onboard," said Shahid a student of first year at F G Post-Graduate College in Sector H-8.

The personnel of traffic police watching students on rooftops of busses ask the drivers to off board them. The police cops scream, "Why you are sitting on roof of vehicles putting your lives at stake," Aslam a student of OPF Boys College, Sector H- 8/4 said, adding, "We do so because we do not have any other option."

The behaviour of bus conductors and drivers is very insulting as they treat us as an unwanted burden on them," said Aamir, a student of Islamabad Model College for Boys in Sector H-9. This is a serious problem which is getting severe day by day, but no one is paying any head towards it. Plumbing on threshold of busses and coaches or sitting on vehicles' rooftops put students' life at risk. It may result in loss of lives if the problem is not addressed, he added. The news

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Ministry launches third phase of NIP
Islamabad: Ministry of Youth Affairs launched here Monday the third batch of the National Internship Programme (NIP), seeking applications from graduates from across the country.

An official of the ministry said that this phase of the Programme enrolled 30,000 graduates, who have completed 16 years of education and are of 25 years of age. The last date for the submission of applications is November 10. Candidates can apply both online at www.nip.gov.pk or through postal mail for this Programme.

The candidates would be awarded experience certificates on the successful completion of their internship in different government organisations, he said adding that the internees are paid an attractive monthly stipend of Rs10,000.

The official said the ministry would give priority to the youth of Malakand Division in the upcoming phase of NIP on priority basis by relaxing the condition of 16 years of education to 14 years for the students of that region. He said the decision was aimed at providing relief to the youth of Malakand region, who had to pass through a stressful period.

"The government also plans to provide employment to them," he said. However, he said the upper age limit for candidates applying from the area would remain the same. According to official statistics, over 30,000 youth complete 16 years of education from recognised universities/degree awarding institutions in the country every year. A considerable time gap between the completion of education and job availability in majority of the cases results in a sense of frustration and waste of potential energy within the educated youth.

He further said that the selection process of the NIP candidates would be transparent and only eligible candidates would be awarded the internship letters.In the third batch of NIP, he continued that around 30,000 youngsters would be inducted after complete verification of degrees by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and CNICs by the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra). The news

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QAU to hold three-day moot
Islamabad: National Institute of Psychology, (NIP) Centre for Excellence of Quaid-e-Azam University is organising a three-day International Conference here from October 13 to 15, on "Developmental Psychology: Prevalence, Management and Prevention" in the country.

Professionals from different walks of life including Psychologist, Sociologists, Psychiatrist and Educationist are expected to participate in the conference and share their expertise, views, and scientific

research experiences in the form of scientific session, symposiums, and panel discussions, says a press release here on Monday. NIP Director Professor Anila Kamal said that Developmental psychopathology refers to those psychological problems that develop during any stage of development of the child and effects his/her cognitive, social emotional, behavioural and intellectual functioning. The news

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Provincial youth ministry sought
Peshawar: The Awami National Party-led provincial government should immediately set up a youth ministry to resolve the problems being faced by the young generation on priority basis, said Waqar Ahmad Khattak, programme manager of Bacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation (BKTEF), on Monday.

Addressing the participants of Youth Leadership Programme at the Area Study Centre, he said youth should be provided opportunities of healthy activities so that they do not indulge in terrorism, extremism and other crimes.

He said no nation could make progress without peace that's why BKTEF was striving hard to equip the young generation with modern education to enable them to shoulder the future responsibilities and face challenges besides taking part in progress of the country.

He said following Bacha Khan's golden principles of non-violence, the BKTEF was working for promotion of peace through education and awareness as the nations believing in violence and terrorism vanished from the face of the earth.

Zahira Khattak in her speech lauded the role of Bacha Khan for taking practical steps and opening dozen schools in the Pakhtun belt. She urged the society to take forward Bacha Khan's mission of spreading education. Both men and women should play their due role by promoting education and peace.

Arbab Tahir said that the BKTEF was imparting education to youth irrespective of political affiliation and any other motives, which he termed a good omen.

Project Director of BKTEF Javed Anwar Khan discussed democracy, human rights, political views, peace and progress regarding Youth Leadership Programme. The news

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UoP to hold seminar on K-L bill
Peshawar: The University of Peshawar is holding a seminar on 'Kerry Logar Bill' in collaboration with Peshawar University Teachers Association in the Sahibzada Abdul Qayum Museum Hall on Monday at 11:00 am. Amongst others, Farhatullah Babar, Presidential Spokesperson Zafar Iqbal Jhagra (PML-N) and Mushtaq Ahmad Khan (JI) will participate. F.P Report

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Action against absent teachers initiated
Lakki Marwat: The female district officer of Elementary and Secondary Education Department (ESED), Lakki, has ordered deduction of salaries while initiating disciplinary action against the teachers found absent from duty during her surprise visits to several girls schools in the district.

The surprise visits were arranged on public complaints regarding absenteeism of female teaching staff from the government-run schools in the far-flung areas of the district.

In Government Girls Middle School Mangala, the ESED District Officer Naheed Ghazal accompanied by ADO Shagufta Amin found that only two teachers were present on duty while four teachers of the school namely Kalsoom Bibi, Seena Gul, Najma Bib, and Mahjabeen had been detailed to other schools in Lakki city. "The school lacks basic facilities like electricity and potable drinking water," sources said, adding that the headmistress had not made any arrangements to fulfill the basic needs of the students from Parents Teachers Council Fund.

The sources said that efficiency of the teachers could be gauged from the fact that attendance registers of students were incomplete despite the fact that the teaching staff was drawing salary every month regularly. The ESED district officer ordered immediate cancellation of detailment orders and directed quarters concerned to ensure recovery of PTC funds from the headmistress. The news

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