Parents boycott school against absence of teachers

ChitralToday on phone from Chitral that the Government Middle School for Girls, Murdan, had been without headmistress for the last 18 months. They said Rukhsana Parveen was appointed as the headmistress of the school one-and-a-half-years ago. However, she never took the charge and later got herself posted at a school in Shiaqo Tek near the Chitral town. The education department did not arrange another headmistress for the school. Besides the headmistress, two certified teachers (CTs) have also been absent from the school for many years. At the moment, only three teachers are handling the school with over 70 students of three classes. During the recently-concluded exams, there was only one teacher as two of the teachers were sent on exam duty in other schools. Despite repeated demands, the education department Chitral failed to fill the vacant posts. As a result, the residents stopped sending their daughters to the school five days ago. On Saturday, two assistant education officers from Chitral visited the village and assured the parents that teachers would be posted to the school within two days. When contacted, one of the assistant education officers told ChitralToday that the headmistress had refused to take charge at the school and her case had been forwarded to the authorities concerned. She said only the director KP education department was empowered to appoint a middle school headmistress which was a grade-16 post. The ADO confirmed that the parents had stopped sending their daughters to the school for five days. The school has seven sanctioned posts but currently there are four teachers, she added.]]>