Six Islamabad colleges still run without sanctioned staff

ISLAMABAD: Six colleges in the federal capital have been operating for years without sanctioned posts, forcing the education system to run them with staff borrowed from other institutions even as schools under the Federal Directorate of Education face wider teacher shortages.

Officials said the affected institutions are Islamabad Model Colleges for Girls G-13/1 and G-14/4, Islamabad Model College for Boys G-13/2, IMCB G-15, IMCB Mera Bagwal and IMCB Pakistan Town. They said these colleges were made functional in recent years, but regular posts for them were still awaiting approval.

An FDE official called the delay in approving PC-4 for the creation of posts a serious concern, saying the colleges had been built over several years and staffing should have been cleared in time. He said, "This is a matter of concern that six colleges started operations a few years ago, but still they don’t have sanctioned posts. They are being run through borrowed staff of other colleges, which are also facing shortage of staff."

Alongside the college staffing gap, the directorate has sought a no-objection certificate from the federal government to recruit 240 schoolteachers in BS-14 against vacant sanctioned posts. An FDE officer said the request had been pending for around two months.

The same official said the separate process to appoint around 1,200 teachers in BS-17 through the Federal Public Service Commission was at an advanced stage and that some batches had already joined. He said, "The process to appoint 1200 teachers by FPSC is at an advanced stage. We have received some batches of new teachers appointed by FPSC."

FDE officials said staffing needs were expected to rise further next year under the prime minister’s reforms package, with 70 new classrooms nearing completion. Once those classrooms become operational, enrolment is expected to increase, creating demand for hundreds of additional posts beyond the 240 already requested.

Officials said the federal government had focused on the FDE over the last three years and inducted hundreds of teachers through a competitive process. Under the same reforms package, facelifting work was carried out in 170 schools and colleges, including the construction of extra classrooms and provision of new facilities.

They said another major project aimed at providing missing facilities in the remaining schools and colleges had been proposed for funding in fiscal year 2026-27, but was not approved. An official from the FDE planning wing said the proposal may now be taken up later, with the directorate exploring funding options this year or otherwise awaiting consideration in 2027-28.