AKES plans to axe 200 more teachers

GILGIT, July 28: The Aga Khan Education Service Pakistan (AKESP) is planning to send home another 200 or so teachers in Gilgit-Baltistan, it has been learnt reliably. It may be recalled that last year the organization forcibly retired a large number of teachers in the region paying them lump-sum amount which cost the AKESP about Rs5 million. In Punjab, Chitral and KPK too, the AKESP forcibly retired a good number of teachers and paid them about Rs2 million. The retrenchment took place after the organization conducted a baseline test for their teachers. Most of the teachers sent home did not attend the test and latter launched a protest drive against their termination. Officials in the organization said that a few months back a team of experts drawn from various civil society organizations was sent to Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral to assess the abilities and qualifications of teachers and each of the expert was paid about 0.5 million for the assessment. After the termination of services of the teachers who did not meet the new criteria of the AKESP, those retained from the old lots or newly inducted ones would be paid handsome salaries along with other perks and privileges. All this is being done to improve the quality of education which ahs been eroding for the past many years in the schools being run by the AKESP in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. The sources said that earlier, each AKESP teachers availed of the facility of fee waiver for two of their children in AKESP schools and colleges but now the number will be increased to four kids. Besides, healthcare facilities for the teachers are also being worked out.]]>