The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training is preparing to convene a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting to consider promotions of Secondary School Teachers (SSTs) in BS-17 to Vice Principals in BS-18. However, this process has raised concerns among many seasoned SSTs, some of whom have over 30 years of teaching experience.
These veteran teachers, who have been serving under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) for decades, hold Master’s degrees and one-year BEd qualifications. However, they lack the BEd (Honours) or MEd degrees now required under the revised promotion criteria introduced through a Statutory Notification (SRO) published in the Gazette of Pakistan on March 15, 2019. According to these amendments in the 1973 Appointment, Promotion, and Recruitment Rules, SSTs with one-year BEd qualifications are deemed ineligible for promotion to Vice Principal in BS-18.
The affected Secondary School Teachers (SSTs) argue that their one-year BEd qualification, completed before their initial appointments, met the requirements at the time. Furthermore, the BEd (Honours) degree was only introduced in 2016, long after many of these educators had entered the profession. They contend that applying the new promotion criteria retroactively is unjust and should instead be enforced for recruits who joined after the 2019 SRO came into effect.
These teachers are urging the Ministry to consider their extensive service records and amend the promotion rules to accommodate experienced SSTs who joined the profession prior to the implementation of the SRO 373(1) 2019. They believe their decades of dedication to education should not be overlooked due to changes in qualification standards introduced midway through their careers.
