KARACHI, Sept 13: The City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, said here on Monday that the Sindh education department was trying to sabotage the devolution scheme of the government by issuing notifications , in contravention of the local government ordinance.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Khan said that the education department had recently announced that it would regulate private educational institutions in the city directly, and had asked the city government's education officers not to handle matters pertaining to such institutions in future.

"This is not in line with the provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance," he said. He disputed the education department's claim that necessary amendments to SLGO, viz-a-viz control of private schools, had already been approved by the provincial assembly, and said no changes could be made without the consent of the president and he would resist all such attempts.

He further said that though he did not receive a formal request from the provincial government on the subject, he will write a letter to the provincial authorities to lodge a protest with them.

He maintained that powers to regulate private schools and colleges are still vested with the city government. When he was informed that teams of provincial government or personnel of anti-corruption agency had started raiding private schools, the city nazim said in case of any harassment, schools should inform him, in writing.

The city government, he said, had been adding up to 10 new colleges every year owing to increase in the number of students. "During our tenure, we have made a total of 32 colleges operational, while prior to this, there were only 88 colleges," he added. He urged the government to sanction fresh posts for new colleges, and ensure appointment of teachers on the left-over seats at the earliest.