KARACHI, May 1: The Sindh education department will take the administrative control of about 238 general education colleges in the province back from the district governments within the next 10 days, said Sindh education secretary on Monday.

The change in the control of colleges, which were handed over to the districts with the implementation of the devolution plan in 2001, became due after a recent amendment made by the Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan.

After the devolution, colleges were being run by the district officer (education) in all the districts, excluding Karachi where about 50 per cent of the government colleges existed.

At Karachi there is an executive district officer for higher education, who looked after the affairs of general education and technical education colleges through a DO.

Talking about the likely administrative structure in the case of general education colleges of the province, Sindh Education Secretary Syed Ghulam Ali Pasha said that the 238 colleges would be divided into five regions, most probably on the pattern of a set up that used to prevail at the defunct divisional level.

Though nomenclatures and related details, which have almost been discussed at different forums, are to be formally endorsed and notified by the finance department of the government, it has been cited viable to have five regional offices of colleges at Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana, which would be, overall, governed by a provincial office with its head office at Karachi, he added.

Mr Pasha further informed that the regional and provincial offices would at least have one officer each in the administration, finances and inspection sides, in addition to heads.

He did not speak his mind about grades of different officers to be posted at the head office or regional offices in the new set up, but mentioned that all of the personnel would be engaged from college cadre, keeping in view their seniority, merit and administrative panache.

To a question, he said that things related to the withdrawal of college devolution were in the pipeline for last some months, but now since an ordinance had been promulgated by the Sindh governor, his department was ready by all means to take over the control of the colleges in next 7-10 days.

The change of control and withdrawal of colleges from the jurisdiction of the district governments had nothing to do with the new fiscal year and the existing EDO colleges and DOs colleges would practically cease to work shortly, he remarked.

He said that the Sindh education department had already been exercising its rights in regard to transfer and posting of teachers and other senior officials, but after taking over the colleges now it would give great attention on the improvement of academic, administrative and financial affairs of the colleges, while on the other hand a system of continuing inspection and monitoring would be truly effected.