Shortage of Staff in 151 Colleges of Punjab
Rawalpindi : September 22 : The shortage of teaching staff in rural areas of Punjab is affecting the studies of the students, as colleges in rural areas of Punjab lack necessary staff, while the staff is surplus in colleges in the urban areas and this surplus staff is reluctant to go to the rural areas to perform duty.
Credible sources told ‘The News’ here Monday that in all 300 government colleges are functioning in Punjab province. Out of the total number of colleges, presence of surplus staff has been indicated in 149 educational institutions, while in the remaining 151 colleges the staff is short which is affecting the students.
According to sources, list of surplus teachers, teaching in these 149 colleges had been prepared and submitted to the deputy secretary planning for their transfer to the colleges where they are needed. The sources, however claimed that it is due to political influence and pressure no positive action has been taken to post the surplus teachers in those educational institutions where the ratio of students is high and ratio of teaching staff is less. As a result, the students in 151 government colleges are suffering badly to finish their courses.
Similarly, the sources told that due to introduction of STR Policy BSN Programme in 36 colleges, not only the number of seats has been curtailed but several subjects have also been finished in these educational institutions. However, teachers of these subjects still serve in these colleges. Elaborating sources told that in foreign countries like America and England, the degrees of Pakistani students are not accepted who are asked to re-attain education of bachelors and masters in their countries. In order to end this concept and introduce the system of foreign countries, the government of Punjab has initiated STR Policy BSN programme in 36 colleges of the province. The students who do bachelors and masters through STR Policy BSN Programme would hold the same education standard of America and England and their precious years would not be wasted even there, the sources cleared.
When this correspondent approached several students and teachers of Punjab government colleges, they said that government officials were not enforcing policies in educational colleges. They appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif to take immediate notice of the matter and resolve this issue particularly in the interest of the students who are facing problems in getting education due to absence of teachers of different subjects in their colleges.
When approached to seek comments on the issue, Director Colleges, Dr Abdul Qayyum Bhatti, who is also holding additional charge of Principal of Gordon College agreed that the problem of non-implementation of ratio policy of teachers and students exists in educational institutions of the province. He even agreed to the claims of the sources that only because of political intervention this policy has not been implemented. “The politicians stop the cases of transfer of teachers to the remote areas where they are needed due to higher ratio of students. The strength of teachers in big cities of Punjab is higher as compared to the ratio of students. However, he stated that the matter has been brought into the notice of education secretary through an application moved by the education department of Punjab and it is likely to be resolved in short period of one to two months,” Abdul Qayyum claimed.The news.
