Concern at delay in promotion of teachers.

SAHIWAL -- The Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) has raised concerns over the delay in promotions for 4,500 lecturers, assistant professors, and associate professors under the revised four-tier promotion formula of the Higher Education Department (HED).

Despite a shortage of teaching staff in 780 colleges, the HED has been hiring college teaching interns (CTIs) on a temporary basis with a monthly stipend of Rs45,000 instead of promoting existing staff or filling vacant posts through the Punjab Public Service Commission.

According to data, the revised four-tier formula for general cadre colleges (male and female) allocates 42%, 36%, 19%, and 3% quotas of posts to lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, and professors, respectively, from 2018-19. The HED has a total of 23,206 existing posts available, with 13,675, 6,474, 2,722, and 335 posts of lecturer (BS-17), assistant professor (BS-18), associate professor (BS-19), and professor (BS-20).

However, under the revised structure for 23,206 college teachers, the HED has only sanctioned 9,747 lecturers, 8354 assistant professors, 4,409 associate professors, and 696 posts of professors. This means that 3,925 lecturers need to be...