PESHAWAR, May 11: The NWFP government has decided to place 417 more government-run high schools on the autonomous schools’ list after excellent results achieved by a model high school in Abbottabad. One year ago the provincial government, on an experimental basis, had declared a public sector school as autonomous, empowering the teachers-parents committee to evolve a merit policy and run the institution with national spirit. In the preceding year, the school had shown a less than 18 per cent success rate in exams, but this year its students got second and third positions in the intermediate and secondary board.

According to an education department’s report, 102 students of the school obtained A-Grade. “It is a good achievement on the part of the teachers-parents committee, which supervises the affairs of the school. Majority of the public sector schools are in better position than most of the private sector schools,” said NWFP Education Minister Fazale Ali while talking to Dawn.

The minister said that the government had decided to give administrative autonomy to public sector schools being run by the education department since 1947. He said the teachers-parents committee would be empowered to decide about the admissions and other activities at the institutions.

He said the government would not interfere in the affairs of those schools, instead the management would be encouraged to give an end to favouritism and promote meritocracy.

He said the government had provided free books to students, but in some areas students had not been provided with the books owing to the mismanagement of the officials concerned.

The minister said that he had referred about 13 cases of district executive officer (Education) to the chief minister to take a prompt action against them. “We have caught red-handed some booksellers who were found selling government-printed books,” he added.