Zubair Qureshi
Around 250 lady teachers working under wedlock policy in various schools under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) are waiting for the passage of the ‘Protection of Family Life & Wedlock Bill 2023’ by the joint session of the Parliament. Former President Dr Arif Alvi had returned the bill which was earlier passed by both houses of the Parliament—the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan—last year during the PDM government. As per procedure, if the President returns a bill to the Parliament, it can again pass that bill in the joint session and then that specific bill stands as law.
However, the Parliament is yet to convene a joint sitting for the purpose. In the past, these wedlock teachers have been facing indifference of the relevant authorities for last many years as under the wedlock rules, teachers after a certain period are entitled to absorption. The FDE had absorbed these teachers as there is a 10pc annual quota but it was during the time of General Musharraf in 2001 and onwards when Brig (R) Maqsood-ul-Hassan was made Director General (DG) of the FDE and teachers borrowed from the provinces under the wedlock policy were no longer absorbed, said one of the affected lady teachers. Since then we, teachers, have been running from pillar to post to get absorbed in the FDE schools as “our families are well-settled and we are living along,” she added.
Meanwhile, the FDE had been sending repatriation orders to these teachers asking them to leave their children and families and report back to their provinces. In order to pre-empt their repatriation, some of these teachers have got court’s stay orders while as a last resort they have approached the parliamentarians to get them absorbed in the FDE schools.
Another lady teacher while talking to Pakistan Observer said, “We have been working hard in our respective schools and our results are excellent. Islamabad schools are already short of teachers yet we are not being absorbed, which is a pity.”
She appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Education Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui to look into the matter and get her and her colleagues absorbed so that they could perform their duties with complete peace of mind.
At present, we are living under perpetual fear and are reminded almost on a daily basis by our ‘regular’ colleagues and heads that we are on deputation, she said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has recently announced an Education Emergency. In line with his vision, wedlock teachers qualify to be absorbed in Islamabad’s schools, she further said.
These wedlock teachers, mostly women teachers, were employees of the provincial governments and divisions, but were brought to Islamabad under the wedlock policy as their spouses work here. After many years, they were directed to submit no-objection certificates (NOCs) from their parent departments for absorption in Islamabad following which their seats in the provinces were abolished. Delay in absorption has again given rise to their fears that they might be sent back to their provinces where they have no one to stay with.
