May 1, 2003	Thursday	Safar 28, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, April 30: The government will soon introduce legislation in the parliament for registration of more than 438 private schools functioning in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the minister for education, Zobaida Jalal, said on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question of Malik Amin Aslam Khan in the National Assembly, she said there was no regulatory body to manage registration of private schools in the ICT. However, an ordinance to the effect was drafted by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) which was submitted to the Ministry of Education and subsequently to the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The FDE was advised by the education ministry to recast the ordinance on the format of an act for presentation and passage in the National Assembly, she said, and added that the ministry had completed the required task.

She said the government and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) did not recognize degrees issued by non-chartered universities and discouraged their operation.

Replying to a question of Maulana Nasib Ali Shah, she said the HEC as per its ordinance had the responsibility to check and monitor the standard of education being imparted by private universities.

She pointed out that as per the criteria approved by the federal cabinet, the institutions which had already been established had been given a grace period of five years to fulfil the conditions set out in the criteria.

Inspection will be carried out by the HEC after completion of the grace period. No university has been inspected during the last one year, she added.—APP

OUR STAFF REPORTER ADDS: The government has revised the syllabus from class I to intermediate level under its education policy, the National Assembly was informed in a written reply.

Education Minister Zobaida Jalal, in response to a question of Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, said the education ministry had revised the national curriculum in languages, social sciences and basic sciences for classes I to XII during 2000-02 in pursuance of the National Education Policy 1998-2010. The revised syllabus, she said, was being implemented in the country.

To another question, she admitted that one out of two brothers studying in the same model college in Islamabad was granted tuition fee concession. But, this facility was only for those studying in the morning shift because it was funded by the government, whereas the evening shift was totally self-financed.

Besides, the tuition fee of students in the morning shift was deposited in the government exchequer while all expenses for the evening shift were met from the evening shift fund.

However, the minister said regularization of evening shift was under process with the finance ministry, adding that the same facility could also be granted to the evening-shift students as and when the shift was regularized and funded by the government.

She said there were three mediums of instruction in the country including English, Urdu and the approved provincial language. Despite the diversity of mediums, uniform syllabus/curriculum was used in the government institutions.

About the reason for allowing English medium along with Urdu/provincial language, Ms Jalal said the idea was to provide a strong base to students for acquisition of science, technical and higher education and prepare them for global challenges.

However, the private sector was free to choose any medium of instructions by offering national or foreign curricula such as O and A levels. The minister conceded that the number of schools/colleges using Urdu as medium of instruction was much more than those of English medium schools in the country.

The minister, however, disputed with the view that standard of education in the country was deteriorating and said the government had taken different steps through curriculum reforms to improve the standard.