QUETTA: In a major push to tackle critical staff shortages in schools, the Balochistan government has approved the ad hoc recruitment of 4,000 teachers under the newly launched Chief Minister’s Academic Excellence Program. The initiative targets a severe 70-80% deficit of educators in core subjects across the province.
Balochistan’s Education Secretary, Asfandyar Kakar, confirmed the decision, stating that the acute shortage of qualified teachers in English, Mathematics, and Science has severely impacted educational outcomes. “To meet this pressing shortage, the provincial government has moved to recruit four thousand teachers on an ad hoc basis under the Chief Minister’s flagship program,” Kakar said. He added that Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti has personally approved the summary, fast-tracking the process.
The newly recruited teachers will be appointed in Grade 17 (BS-17) and deployed to schools across Balochistan’s most affected districts. The ad hoc appointments are presented as a stop-gap measure to immediately fill classroom vacancies, though long-term regularization plans remain a subject of future policy discussion.
Education advocates have welcomed the move as a necessary, urgent step. However, some have raised concerns about the ad hoc nature of the contracts, urging the government to ensure transparent merit-based selection and to develop a parallel strategy for permanent placements to guarantee sustainable educational quality. This recruitment drive marks the provincial government’s most significant single intervention this year to address the chronic teacher shortage that has long plagued Balochistan’s education sector.
