Islamabad schools reserved for education as PM ends police stays and teachers’ administrative duties
Directives cover schools and colleges under the Federal Directorate of Education and require cancellation of teachers’ existing administrative assignments following weeks of disruption at 38 institutions.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has barred the use of Islamabad’s government schools and colleges for accommodating police and security personnel, while directing that schoolteachers be relieved of election, census and other non-teaching administrative duties.
The measures seek to protect classroom learning following the closure of educational institutions to house personnel brought into the federal capital for security arrangements.
According to reported instructions communicated by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the restrictions apply to institutions operating under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE). Their buildings, classrooms, premises and other facilities must not be handed over to law enforcement agencies for operational use.
The prohibition covers temporary accommodation and camps, personnel deployment, detention facilities and other operational activities within educational premises.
The ministry conveyed the decisions to Islamabad’s administration and police on Wednesday, November 11, following written instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office. The communication was addressed to the Islamabad chief commissioner, Capital Development Authority chairman, inspector general of police, interior secretary and FDE director general.
Alongside the restrictions on buildings, the prime minister directed that teachers should no longer be assigned administrative work unrelated to teaching. The specified duties include election assignments, census activities and household surveys.
The instructions also require the immediate cancellation of such duties already assigned to teachers, allowing them to concentrate on their academic responsibilities.
Previous School Closures Disrupted Learning
The decision follows disruption at 38 public-sector schools and colleges used to accommodate police personnel ahead of an anticipated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf protest march in September.
According to the reported account of an FDE official, personnel began moving into educational institutions on September 24. Closures lasting between one and three weeks affected thousands of students, with institutions subsequently reopening as the security situation eased.
The latest instructions address two sources of interrupted learning: the withdrawal of school buildings from educational use and the diversion of teachers to administrative assignments. Their implementation would require the relevant authorities to arrange accommodation and operational facilities elsewhere and organise the specified administrative work without drawing teachers away from classrooms.
Wider Review of Islamabad’s Public Education System
The measures also come amid a wider review of Islamabad’s public education system. An official Prime Minister’s Office statement issued after an October 28 meeting recorded Sharif’s instruction that government schoolteachers in the capital should focus on education and teaching.
At that meeting, he also ordered urgent attention to school infrastructure, curriculum and teacher training, alongside a strategy to make the FDE more effective. Other directions included expanding school transport, installing smart boards, promoting solar power and providing ramps for students with physical disabilities
The reported restrictions concern Islamabad’s federally administered educational institutions. They should not be presented as a nationwide exemption for teachers or as confirmation that every previously assigned administrative duty has already been cancelled.
