Provincial Minister for Education and Literacy Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said that the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) believed in supremacy of merit, and that all vacant positions in the Education Department would be filled on a merit basis. This process will be completely transparent.

He said this in a statement issued here on Tuesday. He said the services of renowned institutions like IBA and SZABIST would be hired on district bases, to appoint teaching and non-teaching staff in Education Department. He said that these appointees would be regularised considering their performance, attendance and monitoring after five years. Irregular and inefficient staff would be terminated.

The minister for Education categorically denied that there were any differences within the Education Department, and said that those who were spreading such news had ulterior motives.

Meanwhile, the minister has written a letter to Chairman Anti-Corruption regarding the School Special Budget for 2013-14 and 2015-16. He said in the letter that he had found evidence of misappropriations in the supply of class materials and supplies for libraries, laboratories, curriculum activities, sports and stationary, asking him to probe into the matter thoroughly and bring up all those found to be involved in this mess.

The Minister also had a meeting with Abdul Kadeer Jaffer, former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK at his office, regarding the establishment of a school for less privileged children in Hub. He assured him that the Education Department was ready to extend a helping hand in this regard.