The Education Department is set to introduce the framework for the district education authorities (DEAs) next month.
Many teachers have reservations regarding the DEAs’ role and the Punjab Teachers Union has been organising protest demonstrations to press the point. The union says the proposed DEAs would result in the ‘politicisation’ of the education system.
Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan told The Express Tribune that the development of a framework for DEAs was being taken very seriously. He said the government had considered the reservations of all stakeholders, “but that does not mean we will succumb to pressure and roll it back”.
Responding to a question about the Punjab Teachers’ Union call for a roll back of the plan, Khan said the government’s stance was clear. “Deliberations on the framework are underway. We are confident that a proposal will be brought forward in a month,” he said.
Khan also said the government was planning to set up the DEAs after the local government elections.
The local government elections were expected to be held on January 30, however in light of a recent ruling by the Lahore High Court, a delay is likely.
The PTU claims that the government will try to set up the DEAs by July. PTU Secretary General Rana Liaquat said the government had not taken the teachers on board regarding the DEAs proposal. Liaquat had earlier said that the PTU was considering boycotting the class 5 and class 8 examinations to be held in the first week of February.
The education minister responded by saying, “If the teachers boycott their duties, we will have no choice but to replace them.”
Khan said the government was not trying to politicise education. He said it had held talks with three teachers’ unions over the past few months and seven amendments had been proposed to the draft framework. He said that certain elements in the teachers’ unions were engaging in ‘negative politics’.
In the most recent round, the government based teachers’ promotions on certain key performance indicators rather than seniority, Khan said. He said some teachers had opposed that.
He said policies regarding transfers and rationalisation [that determined which teachers would be transferred at the end of each academic year] had also not been received kindly by some teachers.
Khan said the demand for new teachers had decreased from 70,000 to 28,000 in the previous academic year because of “successful government policies”.
A School Education Department official speaking on condition of anonymity has told The Express Tribune that the proposed amendments to the DEA framework deal with appointments, transfers and promotions of teachers.
The PTU is expected to hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss the possibility of boycotting the upcoming grade 5 and 8 examination duties.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.