National
Edu Ministry pressed to deploy staff to local units
With little progress in staff mobilisation process, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has urged the Ministry of Education to immediately deploy more than 1,616 officials at the local levels.With little progress in staff mobilisation process, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has urged the Ministry of Education to immediately deploy more than 1,616 officials at the local levels.
While the constitution authorises the local governments to govern the education sector up to grade 12, the lack of required staff has left them in dilemma over managing the schools in their provinces.
The Local Level Governance (LLG) Act has set a 23-point guidelines for the local governments to follow in the education sector.
The spirit of the constitution is to dissolve District Education Offices and transfer the authority of developing education sector to the local governments.
In its letter to the Education Ministry, the Federal Affairs and General Administration has called for transfer of 16 under-secretaries, 787 gazetted officers and 812 non-gazetted officers in the local governments.
Every local government has a separate department to govern the education sector within their area. While the chair or mayor of the local government leads the department, the administrative head has to be an official from the Education Ministry.
According government’s Organisation and Management plan for the local bodies, the under-secretary, along with 11 other staff, looks after the education department in the metro-politan and sub-metropolitan cities.
Similarly, the municipalities and rural municipalities are led by the gazetted officers. Despite the huge responsibility and authority bestows upon the local government, the education department under them has yet to get a full shape.