FDE insists IHC directed it to complete interviews despite pandemic
Zubair Qureshi
A Covid-19 patient generated quite a storm among her colleagues and a four member committee of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) when she arrived at the Islamabad Model School for Boys G-6/4 on Monday and requested the committee members to interview her first as she was suffering from coronavirus.
Arrival of the lady teacher at the school quite panicked the committee and served it a grim reminder as it had not mentioned in its orderers issued a few days ago to over 195 teachers what they needed to do in case they had coronavirus symptoms.
Director Schools of the FDE who is a member of the committee asked the husband of the teacher to return home and collected her documents.
We are conducting interviews on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), said a member of the committee when asked what was the urgency to conduct interviews in the days of pandemic.
While talking to Pakistan Observer the Covid positive teacher said she did not know what FDE was going to do with her—keep her or send her back to her province.
This was not her story alone, teachers who have been teaching at the federal schools and model colleges under the FDE on deputation under wedlock policy for last many years are passing through prolonged agony and mental torture for the FDE has been sending them repatriation letters, seeking their documents one after the other putting pressure on them they would be sent any moment back to their province.
Interestingly, while playing this game with these teachers the Directorate has absorbed more than 45 teachers secretly without giving the remaining teachers any justification why their cases were not being considered.
Justice Athar Minallah in his judgment dated Feb 17, 2021 had asked the directorate to interview these teachers through a high-level body and examine their case and see if they could be saved from any hardships.
