The Punjab government has approved a summary of recruitment of 30,000 teachers for primary, middle and high schools, putting its own rationalization policy on the backburner.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the summary of recruitment for the whole province during the next month. The move is reportedly going to have a great financial impact on the provincial kitty. Sources privy to the development assessed an additional burden of Rs 30 billion every year in salaries and allowances for the recruitment of such a huge workforce.
Figures further revealed that the government spent Rs 145 on salaries alone in the last budget, while the total spending approached Rs 180 billion. Sources said that around 15,000 teachers retire every year from public schools, while the renovation and building of new schools also creates more slots for teachers.
According to the new plan, the government’s rationalization policy is being set aside for three months and both male and female teachers are going to be recruited. After the three months are over, implementation of the rationalization policy will restart.
The government has already placed advertisements in newspapers for conducting the NTStest for candidates with B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in the subjects of english, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and mathematics.
Tests will be held by the end of August and the recruitments will be completed in September.
A spokesperson for the education department said it is a revolutionary step which will also have great economic impact. “89 percent of schools are in the rural areas, while those in urban centres constitute only 11 percent. Not all districts have facilities such as those in Lahore,” the spokesperson said, further dispelling the impression that there will be any forced retirement of existing teachers.