Denial of due rights irks teachers

Islamabad : Teachers both in-service and retired have expressed their concerns over getting no response of their representations lodged against granting time scale to the teachers from the unjustified eligibility dates and denying this right to the retired ones.

According to an official source, despite lapse of two months, the teachers of educational institutions of Islamabad did not get any reply of their representations lodged to redress their genuine grievances from the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MOFEPT).

Teachers both in-service and retired had expressed their concerns in formal applications sent to the Ministry but on the pretext of corona pandemic, their financial rights are being denied.

Earlier, in April, around 600 teachers working under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) were granted higher Time Scale with effect from an unjustified date i-e March 5, 2020 which created anomalies at a large scale. Moreover, the retired teachers were not altogether considered while granting time scale.

Against these anomalies, the teachers, in their representation letters addressed the Secretary MOFEPT requested that they should have been granted Time Scale with effect from their eligibility dates instead of March 5, 2020 as each teacher has different eligibility date according to his/her length of service.

A female Associate Professor of a Postgraduate College, on the condition of anonymity told APP, I have been waiting for the reply of my representation which I had filed two months ago but there is nothing in sight so far.

The bureaucratic lethargy is breeding despondency in teachers and causes delays in the disposal of this important case but nobody cares in this country.

Dr Khalid Hanif, a retired Associate Professor of Islamabad Model Postgraduate College H-8 filed a representation in April against the denial of grant of Time Scale accused the MOFEPT of forfeiting his benefits unlawfully. He said the retired teachers who served the department for over 35 years feel marginalized.

He raised his voice, “should the services rendered by the retired teachers be buried deep and forgotten” Yasmeen Zahir Bokhari, another retired Associate Professor said, “Nobody bothers to reply my request which I had filed in the month of April. Unfortunately authorities have failed to weed out red tape. If we, the retired teachers, did not receive any reply from the Ministry in 90 days, we will knock the door of court of law.”

Tahir Mahmood, a representative of Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) said, “The authorities at the helm of affairs should resolve the issue by redressing the genuine grievances of the teachers. If the issue is not addressed properly and in a timely fashion, it will pave the way for demotivation and unrest and it may trigger a useless litigation. As the demands of the teachers are legitimate, ultimately the Department will lose the battle in court of law. Justice delayed is justice denied, it is high time for the Ministry to resolve the issue amicably according to the demands of justice and fair play,” he added.

When contacted, Director Human Resource Development, Federal Directorate of Education, Javed Iqbal Mirza said that some of the representations have been forwarded to the ministry while other cases are in the process of finalization.