Ditching classrooms for newsrooms? Get set for the axe

The provincial government has decided to dismiss 352 Sindh Education Department employees working in different media houses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), while drawing salaries from the government department without attending their duties for years.
Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq handed over the list of names of the government employees to the media on Thursday, after visiting the National Accountability Bureau Karachi office. Appealing to the electronic and print media houses to kick out those working as journalists while being government employees, he said that he had written a letter to district information officers to collect information about ‘ghost teachers’ working in the media and NGOs.
The list contains names of some of the big shots of Sindhi media with almost 50 percent of them associated with a large Sindhi language media group, Kawish. “The media owners make tall claims and talk about changing the society while their own organisations hire government teachers as sub-editors, editors and reporters. Most of them report that ‘education in Sindh is deteriorating’ but they do not attend their duties themselves and play their role in changing the society,” the education minister lamented.
“The government wanted to uncover the black sheep in the fold of media, who are actually government employees and blackmail officers and the public while not carrying out their own [actual] duties,” he said.
After coming to know that a majority of education department’s primary teachers, junior school teachers, high school teachers, assistant professors, lecturers and naib qasids are working in media and NGOs, Haq had ordered the district officers of the province to compile a list of such employees – teaching or administrative affairs – as the government has decided to expel these employees and recruit new ones in their place.
Talking with journalists, Haq said that after the “so-called devolution system”, the education department went to the district government and the employees working on two jobs tried to cover up. “But the process was started when the education department came to the provincial government,” he said, warning the officers that if they will fail to bring these teachers to the fore, action will also taken against them.
“All these employees were drawing salaries from the government while working on other jobs. I have ordered action according to Sindh Civil Services Rules against them,” he added. “Most of the district officers have sent incomplete details, but I have directed district officers and regional directors to present detailed list of all government employees working in the media.”
It was also announced that after the termination of the said 352 employees, the education department will appoint new teachers on merit.
According to the list issued, Abdul Razaq Sarohi was posted as High School teacher (HST) in Hyderabad but is performing his duties as Director News and Current Affairs at the Karachi head office of Awaz channel. Kawish’s KTN channel Director Entertainment Noor Jokhio in Karachi was posted as Primary School Teacher (PST) at Larkana and has been receiving his government salary also. KTN’s senior reporter Faiz Khoso was posted as PST in his native village. Kawish’s Bureau Chief in Lahore Imdad Soomro was a PST in his native village of Johi in Dadu District. The Sanghar Press Club president, Anjum Nizamani, is also a PST and drawing his salary from the Sindh Education Department.
Meanwhile, well-placed sources in the Sindh Education Department told Pakistan Today that the minister was fully aware of the issue since the present government formed, but action is being taken now because of a row between the Kawish media group and Haq.
The row had erupted when the media group published several reports and many television programmes against the imposition of the Nazim System in Sindh, annoying the authorities concerned in the province. The education minister was particularly perturbed when the channel telecasted his controversial interview on the issue also
Quoting the minister’ mid-2009 interview by the group’s news editor Zulifqar alias Niaz Panhwar – working as assistant professor in the education department – as example, the sources said that the interview was published in the media group’s largest circulated paper, Daily Kawish, after the minister reinstated the journalist on his service in his department.
In 2007, as a journalist and representative of Kawish group, Panhwar had accompanied former president Pervez Musharraf on the latter’s visit to the US. He not only filed news for the group’s newspaper but also reported live feeds for the media channel also. On the report of secret agencies, then federal home ministry directed the Sindh Education Department to take legal action against Panhwar, who was suspended and remained under suspension for more than one year.
However, Sindh Education Department spokesman Zafar Ahmed Lahbar denied the claims and said that due to the department being under the control of city and district governments, action against such employees was not possible earlier. “Many letters, notices and reminders were sent to the local governments for initiating action against government employees working in media and NGOs but to no avail.”
In the coming weeks, the employees of the education department working in different media groups and NGOs would be dismissed from service after completing the necessary legal formalities, he added.
Appreciating the announcement, Mehran TV Chief Executive Officer Ghulam Nabi Morai announced that all government employees including education department employees working in his television channel will be fired.

List courtesy edu dept.