The Punjab government has launched a significant initiative to combat the scarcity of teaching staff by announcing the recruitment of 30,000 visiting teachers for schools in the initial phase.
The School Education Department (SED) in the province is currently grappling with a shortfall of 115,000 teachers, with the last major recruitment drive taking place in 2018 under the PML-N government. During the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, approximately 400 to 500 appointments were made, mainly focusing on two districts: Murree and Mianwali.
Under the PTI government, a hiring process akin to the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) was introduced, alongside the implementation of College Teaching Interns (CTIs) to address vacancies in colleges. Recent graduates were eligible to apply for CTI positions, offering a monthly salary of Rs25,000.
Insiders within the SED suggest that the current government is considering recruiting 30,000 schoolteachers on a visiting basis, with compensation based on the number of lectures delivered. To facilitate this initiative, the government plans to allocate additional funds to school councils to cover the visiting teachers’ salaries. Moreover, these councils will be entrusted with raising funds to address other school-related expenses.
Rana Liaqat, the General Secretary of the Punjab Teachers Union (PTU), has urged the government to initiate permanent recruitment in the school department to effectively tackle the teacher shortage. Liaqat stressed that the most feasible solution to mitigate the scarcity of teaching staff is through permanent recruitment. The PTU General Secretary expressed concerns about the potential challenges that hiring visiting teachers could pose to schools.
Tags: punjab, government, teaching staff, recruitment, schools, shortage, education, initiative, visiting teachers, permanent recruitment, PTI, PTML-N, CTIs, school councils, Rana Liaqat, PTU
