Khairuddin Shadani | Chitral Today
CHITRAL, Dec 4, 2025: Serious concerns have been raised over alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary school teachers (PST grade 12) in Lower Chitral, where candidates from unrelated union councils are reportedly being placed into UC-specific posts under the label of “surplus.”
Local candidates told ChitraToday that the move violates district and provincial recruitment rules, which clearly reserve UC-level posts for candidates belonging to the same UC.
ETEA had initially set the passing criteria at 50 percent in both the screening test and the computer-based test (CBT). After a significant number of applicants across KP failed to reach that threshold, the passing score was reduced to 30 percent for both tests.
The dispute intensified when reports emerged that candidates from outside UCs were being inserted into PST seats of Lotkoh, Garam Chashma, Shoghore and surrounding areas despite the availability of qualified candidates within those UCs.
Lower Chitral currently has 92 vacant PST posts, while approximately 130 candidates have already passed the screening phase, including three from Lotkoh UC and two from Shoghore UC. Even after the revised eligibility criteria, several UC seats remain unfilled.
At the same time, dozens of Lotkoh candidates who scored between 33 and 99 marks claim their CBT roll numbers have not been uploaded by ETEA, preventing them from appearing in the next test. Many described this omission as deliberate and discriminatory.
Candidates also noted that roll numbers for other districts are available and easily downloadable, while those for Chitral remain inaccessible on the ETEA website. This discrepancy, they argue, casts doubt on any claim of a mere technical issue.
Under previous NTS recruitment systems, UC-level merit was strictly enforced, and only candidates belonging to that specific UC could compete for UC-based posts. The alleged introduction of “surplus adjustments” across UCs undermines that long-standing principle.
“It is like allowing a candidate from Arandu UC to claim a PST seat meant for Garam Chashma,” said one affected applicant. “This is a direct violation of UC merit and an injustice to the youth of Chitral.”
Candidates also question why ETEA has announced the abolition of the screening test in future recruitment cycles yet insisted on implementing it this year—when it appears to disproportionately harm applicants from Lotkoh, Garam Chashma and Shoghore.
Local residents argue that many candidates within these UCs secured between 30 and 99 percent in screening and are rightful claimants to their own UC posts. Replacing them with outsiders, they say, is both unlawful and discriminatory.