KARACHI, March 27: Sindh Education Department's Task Force on Higher Education has not initiated any action against 42 private higher educational institutions despite serving them final notices , after these institutions formed an alliance and threatened the department to move to high court against its action.

These 42 private higher educational institutions were asked by the provincial education department to get them registered with it by March 20, under the relevant law, or their campuses in the province will be closed down forcibly.

However, the education department has not taken any action against these "illegal and unauthorized" higher educational institutions even after a lapse of one week after the deadline. It is said that the institutions in question have formed an unannounced association and threatened of resistance against the department, which include moving to courts.

According to Additional Secretary (Academics) Dr Noorul Haq, the Higher Education Commission in its letter had asked the provincial education secretary to ensure authenticity of these 42 institutions last month.

Mr Haq said that the education secretary formed a task force to review the situation. The task force had served notices to these institutions, asking them for registration or to face the consequences, he added.

Under the relevant ordinance, he said, illegally-run institutions could be subjected to a fine of Rs500 per day, besides one-year imprisonment for the owners. He pointed out that one-month warning had been issued due to a lack of awareness about the law.

He said that the list of all "illegal" higher education institutions, either running degree programmes in collaboration with foreign varsities or offering degrees without approval of the HEC or the provincial education department, was provided by the HEC authorities to the education department.

As per notices served to them, if these institutions did not close their operations within 30 days (i.e. by March 20, 2004), these institutions had to be forcibly closed by the government as per decision of the task force.

The six-member task force is headed by chairman of the Sindh government's charter inspection and evaluation committee, Dr S.M. Qureshi. Other members of the task force are IBA Director Prof Danishmand, KU vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim, Sindh University vice-chancellor Dr Mazharul Siddiqui, CBM Director Talib Karim and Additional Secretary (Academics) Noorul Haq.

Out of the 42 institutions named by the HEC, 39 are located in Karachi, while one each in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Nawabshah.-PPI