KARACHI: Changes expected in handing over process: St Joseph's & St Patrick's
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, Nov 5: The officials put to work for handing over St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges to the Catholic Board of Education are considering some amendments in the related operational plan
, said sources in the education department.
Following a notification of the Sindh Education Department on October 1, a committee had been finalized to hand over the possession of both the denationalized colleges in question, and decide the modalities and terms and conditions in respect of government's assets, bank accounts, cash in hands, and transfer of fees collected from students for the ongoing academic session to the Catholic board.
However, the committee was still not functional as a formal notification from the department concerned was awaited in this regard. The proposed committee, which would have the DCO Karachi, Additional Education Secretary, EDO (Higher Education) and EDO (Works and Services) as its members, would also prepare an inventory of the movable and immovable items or property available in the colleges to be denationalized.
A couple of education officials opined that there might be the need for amendments in the plan of operation pertaining to denationalization prior to handing over of the educational premises in question to the private party.
Since the decision of denationalization was taken by the cabinet, it was now the chief minister, who could either make changes in the plan or place the issue before the cabinet again.
There was considerable deviation from the original terms and conditions set by the cabinet. The ground realities and advancement made so far gave to understand that the Sindh government would have to absorb 100 per cent of the teaching and non-teaching staff working in three shifts at the two colleges, instead of 25 per cent, and as such it was likely that the government would have to bear a big financial implication in the future, confided an official.
According to an estimate, the government would have to pay an amount of Rs30 million per year on account of pay and allowances of teaching and non-teaching staff of St Joseph's College, St Patrick's College morning shift, and St Patrick's College evening shift, as the entire lot of teachers and other staff had opted to work with the government and not with the private management.
The denationalization order issued lately by the Sindh Education department did not state any timeframe for the retention of teachers at the colleges being denationalized.
However, media men briefed in July were told that the cabinet had agreed to waive the condition of golden handshake to the staff in question on the grounds that the private management had expressed willingness to retain 75 per cent of the existing staff for a period of three years, while the remaining 25 per cent would be absorbed by the Sindh government.
But, the situation now had changed, and there was a need to revise the clauses of denationalization by the competent authority, said an official, adding the government after all was expected to justify its position and care for the benefits entailing the much criticized act of denationalization of educational institutions.
It was learnt that the Sindh Education department, after knowing that the staff of St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges had denied to work under a private setup, had approached the finance department to know the financial implications in the case of transfer of staff from the colleges. The views of the finance department was also still awaited, said a source.
In the meantime, the Catholic board had been told to recruit teaching and other staff for various faculties before taking possession of the educational institutions, so that the process of education of hundreds of students, already admitted, continued without any break. The board had agreed to provide the list of staff appointed by it at the earliest, said another source.
Apart from non-teaching staff, there were 91 teachers including professors, posted at the two colleges in question. Finding a replacement for a large number of experienced teachers and other supporting staff, to cater to the needs of students of both intermediate and degree classes, was also a challenging task, said an independent source.
