ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: The National Education Council (NEC) has rejected a bill approved by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet aimed at establishing an authority to regulate the working of private schools in the province.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regulatory Authority Bill was approved by the provincial cabinet on October 2 and will be tabled in the assembly soon.

NEC is a non-governmental body which was established in 2006 to protect the rights of educational institutions and draw government’s attention towards problems in the education sector.Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Syed Khalid Shah, the chairman of NEC, said if the regulatory authority was established, the owners of private schools would be left with no option but to close their institutions.He said it was clearly mentioned in the bill that private schools could not appoint or dismiss any teacher. The fee of the schools will be increased or decreased with the approval of the regulatory authority. Owners of the schools could be sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined Rs200,000 for violation of the rules, he added.“The government has been claiming that education is among its priorities but this kind of move will lead to the closure of the door of education on the nation,” he maintained.

In reply to a question, he said around 2,500 private schools in the province had already been affected because of attacks and threats by extremists. Around 500 schools had been demolished by militants, he added.

Because of threats, educational institutions had been facing severe financial loss and now the new policy being formulated by the provincial government would further affect the educational institutes, he added.

NEC vice-chairman Malik Khalid Mehmood, secretary general Khawaja Abdul Hanan and coordinator Nasir Taj were also present.

Talking to Dawn, the NEC chairman said the regulatory body would affect quality of education. “Had bureaucrats been effective education mangers, government schools would have been working well.”

He said most of the bureaucrats’ children were studying in private schools and it was a proof that the private schools were doing a better job. After establishment of the regulatory authority, blackmailing by bureaucracy and politicians would also increase, he feared.