KHYBER: Teachers of government primary schools here have complained about plans to force them into carrying out primary student assessment surveys by the Directorate of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Sources in the education department told Dawn that that the directorate of elementary and secondary department had sent pro formas to all primary school head teachers to engage their staff members in an online survey of grade 3, 4 and 5 students with detailed information about their personal identity, father’s CNIC, Form B, date of admission and date of birth for an assessment examination.
The teachers in Bara, Landi Kotal and Jamrud told Dawn that conducting surveys was actually the job of the clerical staff of the education department, so student learning in all primary schools suffered.
They said that additional responsibility was not only an additional physical and mental burden on most of them and that the majority of them had little or no access to mobile internet service, a basic requirement for the survey.
Insist clerical staff supposed to do that work
Theteachers said that as most schools were located in the winter zone and neared winter vacation as well as the imminent final-term school examination, a majority of students would miss the important exercise to their disadvantage.
“It’s a lengthy process and takes a toll on the teachers’ valued time and health as they are also duty bound to finish their academic courses on time,” a teacher said.
The educators said that the online profiling of primary students coincided with administration of de-worming tablets to students in all educational institutions along with the last-term examinations.
They added that even the directorate itself had to formally stop primary school teachers from the activity exercise and engage the clerical staff for it.
“We are already facing a shortage of teachers at primary level, with women teachers being fewer than men. This situation is negatively impacting the standard of education but the directorate insists on compilation of a survey, which is basically a clerical responsibility,” a teacher insisted.
He, however, said those clerics were not ready to fulfil their professional responsibilities and even the department was unable to sort the issue out.
“We are just fed up with this activity. It is constantly troubling most of us. The students also suffer due to the teachers’ engagement in such exercise,” said the governor’s aide.
He demanded of authorities to intervene for corrective measures.
Meanwhile,newly-appointed DPO of Khyber district Waqar Ahmad has stressed the need for collective efforts to free Khyber from weapon culture and eradicate illegal business of lethal drugs.
During an open katcheri in Jamrud on Friday, Mr Ahmad called upon tribal elders to help police expedite its crackdown on illegal drugs and unlicensed weapons.
He said that eradicating narcotics and protecting local youth from its dangerous effects was the basic mission of police, so an anti-narcotics campaign had been intensified.
The DPO said that the creation of district resolution councils in Khyber in accordance with tribal culture and tradition was meant to resolve local issues with the consent of local elders to the satisfaction of rival groups.
He later visited Jamrud and Malagori police stations and checked records, attendance of staff members, security arrangements, weapons, CCTV cameras and duty systems.
Mr Ahmad directed the police to wear bulletproof jackets and helmets while strictly abiding by protection measures.
Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025.
