Govt. to Conclude Hiring Process for Principals, Assistant Principals in Private Educational Institutions

The government is in the final stages of completing the long-awaited recommendation process for appointing principals and assistant principals in private schools, colleges and madrasas across the country. A high-level meeting is going on at the Ministry of Education to finalise the draft circular prepared by the Non-Government Teachers Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) on the appointment procedure. The meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Rehana Parveen, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, according to a notice issued on January 13.

The meeting is expected to approve the final circular outlining the procedure for recommending appointments to key leadership posts in private educational institutions, including principal, vice-principal, head teacher, assistant head teacher, superintendent and assistant superintendent. Given the significance of the policy decision, representatives at the level of Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Public Administration, the Law and Justice Department, and the Technical and Madrasah Education Division were requested to attend. 

Vice Chancellors of the National University and Islamic Arabic University were also invited, along with the The Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), the heads of the Directorate of Madrasha Education (DME) and Directorate of Technical Education, and senior NTRCA officials. Earlier, NTRCA announced through a notification on its website that it had already prepared and submitted the final draft of the recruitment circular to the DSHE for approval.

According to NTRCA, a policy decision was taken on October 6 last year to assign the authority the responsibility of recommending appointments to senior posts in private educational institutions. To implement the decision, a 15-member high-level committee was formed on October 8 last, which recommended issuing a separate circular for recruitment.

Subsequently, a series of consultations were held, including a workshop at the NTRCA office on December 22, a special meeting at the ministry on December 30, and a comprehensive workshop on January 8 at the International Mother Language Institute. The January workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Law, relevant departments, NTRCA, National University, Islamic Arabic University, and heads of various schools, colleges and madrasas. 

The Secretary of the DSHE attended as the chief guest. Based on the recommendations from these consultations, NTRCA prepared the final draft of the recruitment procedure, which is now awaiting formal approval from the ministry. An official from the Ministry of Education said that the issuance of the circular would bring a “radical change” to the long-standing recruitment system. 

Meanwhile, an expert committee met on January 12 to finalise and update the syllabus and examination format for selecting eligible candidates for these posts. NTRCA officials said the initiative aims to ensure greater transparency, accountability and fairness in the appointment of leadership positions in private educational institutions.