January 3, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 2, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 2: Sindh Education Secretary Ghulam Ali Pasha on Monday said that the body set up by Sindh government to oversee the privately-managed educational institutions would start its survey from early February.

Mr Pasha, who had earlier chaired the first meeting of the Private Institutions Management and Quality Assurance Board, told Dawn that the board would inspect every privately-run institution without any discrimination to assess their services.

In view of the large number of private schools and limited working days, the board may appoint some teams under its purview to ensure inspection of all the private schools in the given year, he said. The visits by the board members or their teams would help not only improve the quality of teaching at private schools but eliminate the grievances of students and parents as well, he added.

The secretary, who is also the ex-officio chairperson of the board, said that the board constituted by Sindh Education Minister held its first meeting on Monday, wherein members were apprised about the newly introduced rules pertaining to management and control of the private schools.

The board, set up in line with the rules framed after amendments in the private educational institutions ordinance, would oversee the affairs of the institutions with special reference to registration, fee structure, inspection and monitoring.

Under the rules, no institutions is allowed to increase its fee during the academic session, while it is also obligatory on the part of educational institutions to fix the monthly remuneration of a teacher higher than the amount they collect as four months’ fee from a student.

The board decided to meet on the first Tuesday of every month. Sindh University vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui; Ziauddin varsity’s VC Shahid Aziz Siddiqui; Bayview Academy (Nursery Section) Administrator Safia Shaikh; Lyceum School Principal Shahzad Asdar Ahmad; Beaconhouse School System Regional Director Yaseen Aqeel; Sister Marry Andrew and Rukhsana Talpur of private schools directorate would be the members of the board.

According to a source privy to the meeting, the academic calendar notified by the provincial education department also came under discussion and a few of the members were of the view that since many of the private schools had less working days in comparison to the government schools they found it difficult to observe the government schedule in toto.

HOILDAYS CONTROVERSY: When this scribe drew the attention of education department towards the fact that a number of privately-managed schools in the city, including those run by entrepreneur families with political connections, were not closed on Monday as per Sindh government’s notification regarding winter vacations, Mr Pasha said that it was a sort of non-compliance or violation of government rules.

However, he refused to answer about what actions his department intended to take against the “violators”.

Parents on Monday too informed Dawn that many of the educational campuses in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Clifton, Defence, North Nazimabad, PECHS and other posh localities were open during the day. Students and teachers have also been asked to attend schools on Tuesday and onwards.

Sindh Deputy Director for Private Schools Zamir Ahmad Khoso said that the department had received reports about violation of government’s notification from many of the parents and notices were being issued to all the concerned accordingly. He said that students and parents could furnish their grievances regarding private schools to the Directorate of Private Schools located in Sindh Secretariat.