LANDIKOTAL: District Education Office of Khyber has hired 187 teachers on contract bases to fulfil the staff shortage of government schools in the district, officials said.
Assistant District Education Officer Wajid Khan Afridi told a meeting of the newly appointed teachers that government-run schools had regained its trust in the community.
He said around 55,000 students were enrolled last year in the government schools in the Khyber district.
The official said it had been noticed that parents were bringing their children from private to public schools, which meant teachers in public schools were honestly performing their duties.
Wajid said they had announced vacancies for primary schoolteachers (PST) for nine months duration in which more than 800 candidates appeared for tests and interviews.
He said that on the directives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Director for Elementary and Secondary Education Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim, they conducted tests and hired 187 qualified teachers.
Wajid said they hired 47 teachers in Jamrud, 54 teachers for schools in Landikotal and nine teachers in Bara.
The official said the government had issued Rs10.5 million to Parent and Teacher Councils (PTCs) in the district to pay salaries to the teachers hired for the nine months, with Rs25,000 fixed salary per teacher.
Talking to this scribe, the teachers said that they were happy after getting the jobs.
Shams, one of the teachers, said he was 40 and he had done double masters but failed to get the government job. He said though he got a temporary job as a teacher now, it is sufficient for him at the moment.
