Some 202 computer teachers appointed in the primary schools working under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have been shown the door upon expiry of their contracts.
These teachers were hired in January 2018 during the government of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the elder brother of the current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under the ‘Computer Labs Project.’ The project is now shelved and therefore your services are needed no more, these teachers have been told by the FDE.
The project concluded successfully has been extremely beneficial for the students of the primary schools in the remote areas of Islamabad as earlier they had little knowledge of computer use. The project was funded initially by the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) under the Universal Service Fund (USF) however it was later terminated in 2021 but was extended for one year.
In 2022 the MoIT declared it could no longer financially support this project and thus handed it over to the Ministry of Education (MoE). According to sources, while handing over the project to the MoE, the MoIT admitted it was a very useful project and the teachers were quite capable but the ministry were unable to support it financially. It was purely because of financial constraints that it was discontinuing the project.
This is not the first time these teachers have been facing such hardships. Their salary fixed under PSDP BPS-7 at Rs70,000 had been stopped in the past and they had to move the court to receive it. Moreover, their job remained under continuous threat during the past six or seven years. Now, they have been terminated with effect from June 30, 2025 at a time when their performance has been noted even at the higher levels and majority of them are over-age and cannot apply for fresh jobs. This will be a big blow to their family and daily life putting them under grave financial pressure, said a number of them while talking to Pakistan Observer. Regarding the usefulness of the project, they told that not only primary schools’ kids were made computer literate, teachers of those schools were also greatly helped, said a senior official of the FDE on condition of anonymity.
Programmes such as scratch programming (block-based visual progamming, language and websites, etc) and basic computer courses were introduced in the computer labs established in the schools of the rural capital.
Besides biometric systems or Human Resource Management Information System (HRIMS) in each school was also introduced by these computer teachers. Teachers were also trained how to make their profile on computers, keep records of their service, leaves etc.
Several training programmes through different apps were also facilitated by these computer teachers and laying them off would amount to sending the schools back to stone age, said one of the master trainers.
A delegation of the computer teachers (USF teachers) called on Parliamentary Secretary for Minister of Federal Education and Professional Training, Farah Naz Akbar and appealed to her to get their termination letters revoked.
Ms Farah Naz promised to these teachers to take up their case at the highest level and to get them reinstated.
