PESHAWAR: The elementary and secondary education department has failed to take action against private schools for defying its decision to allow their students to appear in the grade 5 assessment examinations conducted by the relevant boards.

According to the decision of the department, the students of grade 5 enrolled in government and private schools had to appear in the assessment examinations.

Sources said that seven boards of intermediate and secondary education in the province including Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan, Abbottabad and Malakand had also issued show-cause notices to the private schools but no action was taken against them.

Through the show-cause notices issued on March 31, the education boards had asked the headmasters of private schools to explain within one-week the reasons of not allowing the student to appear in the assessment.

Sources said that instead of one-week, two months passed after issuance of the show-cause notices but the authorities in the boards delaying disciplinary action against the private schools on different pretexts.

A senior official of education department told Dawn that promotion of students to next grade was not based on the assessment rather it was an exercise to find where the flaws existed in both the government and private education sectors.

He said that assessment of the students would help to know the flaws in the teaching methodologies, textbooks, curricula and learning environment. “The next examination for grade 5 would be conducted by board instead of the concerned school,” he said.

Board chairman says private educational institutions agree to participate in next grade 5 assessment

When asked about the reasons of not taking actions against private schools, an officer of education department told Dawn that education boards dealt the affairs of private schools. “After not implementing the decision of the education department, it has ordered all the boards to initiate action against the private schools,” he added.

However, sources said that the boards were reluctant to take action against the private schools, which defied the decision of the education department. They said that administration of board of intermediate and secondary education had issued show-cause notices to 1,321 private schools on March 31.

It was expected that the private schools might face fine or cancellation of registration with the education board, they said.

The show-cause notices were issued under Section 13-A sub section-I of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Registration and Functioning of Private Educational Institution Ordinance, 2001 and board’s calendar section 10, they said.

“As per policy decision laid down by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for assessment of grade 5 in 20I7, you were asked and directed to strictly observe and implement the said policy. However, you have failed to comply the directions given in above mentioned letters and have not participated in the grade 5 assessment and in this way you have violated the law/rules and policy,” reads a show-cause notice.

This scribe contacted several chairmen of the boards to know the reasons of not taking action against the defiant schools. Some of them said that private schools then agreed with the boards to participate in the next examination of grade 5 to be conducted by the relevant boards.

One of the chairmen said that first the entire staff of the board was busy in conducting the Secondary School Certificate examinations followed by intermediate examination. “Now I will look into the matter,” he added.

Another chairman of a board said that previously private schools were not informed about the assessment timely.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2017