Teachers Stopped From Getting Management Roles
On Wednesday, the Peshawar High Court issued a stay order, temporarily halting the elementary and secondary education department from assigning management roles to additional teaching staff.
A bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan directed the chief secretary and the elementary and secondary education (E&SE) secretary to respond within two weeks to a petition filed by 24 officers from the department’s management cadre. The petition challenges the appointment of teaching cadre officers to management positions meant for the management cadre.
The petitioners requested the court to enforce the National Education Policy, as well as relevant superior court rulings and service rules, regarding their cadre. They also sought an order directing authorities to “adjust” them into management cadre roles.
The petition, filed by Jaffar Mansoor Abbasi and 23 other officers ranging from BPS-16 to BPS-19, requested interim relief by preventing the department from assigning teachers to management positions until the case is resolved.
Respondents in the petition include the provincial government, represented by the chief secretary, and the secretaries of the establishment and elementary and secondary education departments.
During the hearing, the bench expressed concern that while teaching cadre officers were being appointed to management roles, management cadre officers were being made officers on special duty, receiving salaries without performing any work.
Advocate Khalid Rehman, representing the petitioners, argued that in May 2024, 24 management cadre officers were placed at the disposal of the directorate of elementary and secondary education for the adjustment of teaching cadre officers to management posts, in violation of the law and superior court judgments.
He highlighted that the federal government’s National Education Policy of 2009 established a clear separation between management and teaching cadres, recognizing that modern educational management requires professional standards and expertise.
Rehman further argued that the provincial cabinet approved this bifurcation of cadres, which was officially notified on May 4, 2009, creating a hierarchical structure for the management cadre from BPS-16 to BPS-20, along with terms and conditions for appointments and promotions.
He pointed out that the issue of separating management and teaching cadres first came before the high court, which ruled on November 18, 2009, that highly qualified teachers should not hold administrative posts and should return to their respective teaching positions.
Rehman also noted that while rules for the management cadre were amended on April 7, 2012, to allow for the transfer of teaching cadre officers, this move was challenged in the high court, which ultimately declared the modifications illegal.
He contended that the provincial government is obligated to implement the National Education Policy, ensuring the segregation of management and teaching cadres for efficient performance and desired outcomes in the education sector.
