November 08, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 9, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 7: Most private schools being run by trusts or communities neither have set up parent-teacher associations nor are providing full fee concessions to a certain number of students which are mandatory requirements under the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Rules.

Sources in the provincial directorate of private institutions said officials were helpless in taking any action against ‘influential’ institutions mainly because whenever a notice was issued to their management for flouting rules they forced the regulators to withdraw the notice by using their political clout with government circles.

A senior official of the directorate on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that the management of a famous private school was recently served a notice for running a second shift in the school without getting it registered. But the directorate’s officials had to face an embarrassing situation as they were reprimanded and asked to withdraw the notice by a top official of the Sindh government.

The sources said that most private schools being run by trusts or communities were openly flouting several provisions of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulations & Control) Ordinance-2001 and its rules which were framed in 2005. They elaborated that private schools were legally required to form parents-teachers associations though such bodies hardly existed in most schools.

The associations are supposed to perform functions assigned to them by the schools’ registration authority.

Besides the award of scholarships to students with good academic record, private schools registered with the directorate were legally bound to offer full fee concessions to the deserving 10 per cent students of the total strength, the sources said, adding that most schools were flouting the rule.

Under the rules pertaining to the service condition of the teaching and non-teaching staff at the institutions being run by a trust or a community, their pay scale, allowances, leave facilities and other benefits should not be less than the respective government pay scales and allowances. However, the sources said that the rule was being flagrantly violated at many schools.