PTC hiring pitfalls

THE provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in a bid to fix the fractured education system, recently approved the hiring of 10,000 primary school teachers under the Parent Teacher Council (PTC) system on a temporary basis. The step is said to have been taken to ensure the presence of teachers in schools, especially in areas away from the mainstream. However, hiring temporary teachers cannot fix institutional paralysis. The policymakers have not thought about the basic flaws in the approach.

First, a decentralised hiring mechanism set for appointing teachers under PTC is prone to nepotism. Second, the job contract is short, four months for schools in the winter zone, and five months for those in the summer zone. How can a teacher-student bond, which is crucial for learning, be created in this short span?

Besides, the honorarium for these new teachers is set at Rs25,000 per month. Keeping high inflation in mind and the designated minimum wage regulation, is this even fair? The KP government is clearly unaware of the ground realities.

MANZAR HASSAN

PESHAWAR