ISLAMABAD: Although the prime responsibility of teachers is to educate the children, the government has been using their services for other tasks due to which this prime duty is being affected.

This was the main point of the declaration of Qaumi Asataza Conference organised by the education advocacy campaign Alif Ailaan at the Pak-China Friendship Centre on Thursday.

Almost 500 teachers from all over the country participated in the conference

The declaration (termed Meesaq-e-Ilm) urged the government to ensure job security of teachers so that they could focus on educating the students.

Speakers at the conference said political interference in the appointment of teachers and their transfers had affected the entire education system. Therefore, they demanded appointments be made purely on merit.

They added that teachers should be included when the curriculum is upgraded or when educational policies are formulated.

Head of Government Teacher Association Balochistan A.N Sabir said rulers were not giving teachers due importance and the teaching community was facing numerous problems. “All over the country, teachers are employed for tasks not related to education.

They are used for vaccination campaigns, spraying anti-dengue fumes, polling duties during elections and other jobs, due to which their prime responsibility is affected,” he said.

Similarly, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said it was the state’s responsibility and the society’s at large to take the Meesaq-e-Ilm forward.

“The focus should always remain on the needs of Pakistani children who are the ultimate beneficiaries of our commitments,” the minister said.

State minister for education Baleegh-ur-Rehman said: “Education has been at the forefront of our government’s agenda. The Prime Minister has time and again committed to increase state expenditure on education to 4 per cent of the GDP by 2018.”

On the other hand, some teachers are apparently not convinced by the promises.

Sarfraz Mirza, a teacher belonging to Chakwal, while talking to Dawn, said that although the ministers had stated that issues of the education sector would be resolved, he did not believe them.

“I have been hearing such promises for decades but the condition of primary schools, especially in the rural areas, has not changed. There are still several ghost schools and politicians have been receiving the salaries of fake teachers,” he said.

Faculty development programme concludes

Meanwhile, the closing ceremony of the 21st Faculty Professional Development Programme organised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was held at its secretariat on Thursday.

The programme was attended by 30 faculty members of 30 public and private sector universities.Acting Chairman HEC Engineer Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, while addressing the participants, stressed upon the significance of communication skills for both teachers and students.

“Teachers may be able to share knowledge with students but it is ineffective if not communicated properly. Therefore, a teacher needs to be a good communicator who successfully puts the message across to the target audience,” he said.

The eight-week in-service programme had been designed to equip university teachers with special skills required for effective teaching and research in higher education.

Adviser (Academics) HEC Dr Mohammad Naeem Khalid said without professional development of faculty, quality of teaching and research could not be improved in universities.