Zubair Qureshi
After Feb 17 order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in which Chief Justice Athar Minallah had restrained the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) from repatriating scores of teachers working on deputation under wedlock policy in various schools of the federal capital, principals, heads and students of these schools are keenly waiting for their return.
While welcoming the court’s order, several heads of the FDE schools said they were feeling greatly relieved to have their teachers back as schools had opened in the country as well as the federal capital and the FDE’s decision to repatriate these dozens of teachers had made things quite difficult not only for the teachers themselves but also for the heads and deputy heads of the schools who have to manage time tables.
Head of a model school (I-V) that had a total of 7 teaching staff with five deputationists was beside herself with joy and she had asked the FDE not to repatriate them as she would be left with no option but to close down the building as she could not manage classes with just two teachers.
I have requested my colleagues on deputation to join their duties even without waiting for the court’s order as I am facing quite a challenge to run the school with such a short number of staff, she said.
Another head of a school said she also telephoned the teachers to come back to join but they replied they were waiting for the orders from the IHC as well as the FDE as only after the court’s order, the FDE would give them offer letter to resume their duties and it was a matter of days.
“Not only we were facing problems in managing the classes but our students were also missing their teachers,” said a vice principal. Some of these teachers took extraordinary pains and even worked in extra periods to prepare their students for board exams.
Our students and their parents are calling us almost on the daily basis to inquire when these teachers would be returning to their schools,” said the head.
In Feb 17 hearing, Chief Justice Athar Minallah had suspended the FDE’s order dated Dec 11, 2021 in which teachers working on deputation basis under wedlock policy were asked to leave the charge on immediate basis and report to their provinces.
Despite the fact these teachers were recipients of the best performance awards and had the outstanding ACR for years, the FDE issued orders in quite a humiliating way directing the principals of these teachers to relieve them on immediate basis.
This was also noted by the Chief Justice during the course of hearing who observed why the directorate was displacing these teachers even after years of service at its schools. It is because of such unilateral decisions that teachers were forced to stage a protest demonstration on the D-Chowk, had observed the Chief Justice.
The IHC CJ also directed the Director General (DG) of the FDE to appear in person before the court on March 9 and explain why these teachers were being treated in such a way.
