After completion of the course he got the diploma approved by the Skill Development Council (SDC) Punjab. Later he applied for the post of a PTI teacher in High School Mardual, district Khushab, but the EDO refused to accept his diploma and give him the job.
He is not the only one to have suffered this fate. Many students who have earned a diploma from MIIM have failed to find a job. Though MIIM has been established under the rules of government and its diplomas are verified by SDC Punjab, 800 of its diploma holders are still unemployed.
Apart from those whose only qualification is an MIIM diploma, teachers who did an Experience-Based Education (EBE) diploma from MIIM in the hope of a promotion also found out that their diplomas were not recognised by EDOs in Punjab.
For instance, Mehboob Elahi and Zahid were working in government schools of district Khushab and they did EBE diplomas because they wanted to get promoted. But their respective EDOs refused to accept their diplomas saying that they should have obtained the diploma from a government institute instead.
�Despite the High Court (Multan and Lahore) decisions in 2010, over 200 teachers could not be promoted because the executive district officers (EDOs) of Punjab are not accepting their credentials,� diploma holders allege.
�Sixty-one students had filed writ petition in Multan High Court and another 88 in the Lahore High Court in 2010, and after listening to them the courts ordered that their diplomas be accepted. But others who cannot afford expenses of courts are jobless,� Ahmed said.
According to its website, the SDC was established under the National Training Ordinance 1980, amended Ordinance 2002 and its aims are to �identify, develop and arrange Vocational, Technical / Professional and IT Training Programs.�
Ahmed said that while the SDC recognises the diploma issued by MIIM, it is not ensuring that diploma holders be considered during appointments and promotion. �Before starting our courses, we had confirmed their eligibility from the SDC. After completion though education departments of Punjab are not ready to accept our diplomas,� he lamented.
K.M. Zahid, chairman of MIIM, told Dawn that his institute began working in 1995. �All diplomas are issued with the approval of SDC. Our institute is on the panel of SDC Punjab. Even Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan education departments have never had any objection on our diplomas,� he claimed.
He said after the court decisions in favour of diploma holders, he personally met with Serat Mehdi, secretary education and chairman SDC, to convince him that MIIM`s diplomas be accepted in educational departments.
�The secretary education wrote a letter to 43 EDOs of Punjab to accept the diplomas. However, they have refused to comply with the order which shows that there is something wrong with the relevant educational departments,� he added.
When contacted by Dawn , Mr Mehdi said that there is a difference between diplomas issued from private institutes and government institutes. Whenever EDOs get diplomas along with applications, they see if the institute was capable of giving training or not. He said that if students are not getting jobs they must be ineligible, and that SDC cannot guarantee all diploma holders will be hired.
�However, we will solve the problems of those diploma holders, who are already in the service of the government and were looking forward to a promotion,� he assured.
Meanwhile, Ahmed feels that not enough work is being done. �Most of the diploma holders are going to be over-age for the jobs in near future but the educational departments are not ready to accept their diplomas. It should be decided soon. If education department has decided not to accept diplomas then these training institutes should be banned to secure the future of upcoming youth,� Shabir concluded.
DAWN