ISLAMABAD: The regulatory authority for private schools in the capital on Wednesday took notice of the practice of heavy school bags carried by children and announced a ‘Lighter School Bags Policy’ for all private schools in the capital. On the other hand, the federal government separately expressed concern over a controversial O-level book and directed the removal of its copies from bookshops.

According to sources, a meeting was held in Islamabad, which was attended by officials of the ministries of interior and education, National Curriculum Council (NCC), Cambridge and others.

Sources said besides the paper leakage issue, the matter of the controversial book was discussed in detail. Officials of the Ministry of Education and NCC informed the meeting that the book had already been banned in Pakistan since April 2023. However, sources said the meeting noted that the same book was still available in the market.

The Pakistan Studies book titled ‘The History and Culture of Pakistan’ (fifth edition), authored by Nigel Kelly for O-level students, is still available in bookshops. Sources said Cambridge officials informed the meeting that the book in question is not an endorsed Cambridge book. However, since no endorsed Pakistan Studies book is available in Pakistan, students on their own rely on this book for O-level exams.

They said the meeting directed the education ministry and NCC to seek assistance from the district administration to remove all copies of the book from bookshops.

It is relevant to note here that Chapter 15 of the book appears biased towards one political party, as several alleged scandals from the 1990s are highlighted in it.

In 2023, the NCC, while banning the book, had stated that it contained controversial material against selected political leaders of the country, attributing issues such as inflation, unemployment, crime and drug trafficking to specific leaders, thereby distorting history by presenting opinion as fact.

It further said unproven allegations of corruption and attributing national issues to a particular political leader were intellectually dishonest and harmful to national harmony.

Sources said the education ministry, private school regulator and NCC, with the help of district administration, would ensure implementation of the ban on the book.

Meanwhile, the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) held a meeting in which several important decisions were taken. The meeting was chaired by acting Peira chairperson Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah.

The meeting also decided to implement a light-weight school bag policy.

“Educational institutions have been directed to ensure that the weight of school bags does not exceed 10 per cent of a student’s body weight and to adopt appropriate measures, including rationalised timetables, provision of lockers and reduction of unnecessary books and study materials, in order to minimise the physical burden on students,” a statement said.

It added that for pre-school students, the maximum bag weight should be 1.5 kg, for grades 1–2, 1.5 to 2.5 kg, for grades 3–5, 2.5 to 4.5 kg, for grades 6–8, 4.5 kg to 6 kg and for grades 9–12, 6 kg to 8 kg.

Peira also decided to initiate strict legal action against unregistered private educational institutions operating without lawful registration.

“The authority also approved a mechanism through which enforcement teams, in coordination with the Islamabad District Administration and relevant law enforcement agencies, shall raid defaulting institutions,” the press release stated.

It added that Peira also directed that no private educational institution shall charge fees beyond the approved academic session of 12 months, whether from April to March or August to July, and that tuition fees shall strictly be collected on a monthly basis.

It was also decided that the authority would conduct forensic audits of institutions to ensure compliance. In addition, a dedicated complaint counter has been set up to facilitate parents and complainants.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Dr Mallah said the authority remained fully committed to ensuring transparency, lawful regulation and promotion of quality education in all private educational institutions.

He further emphasised that no institution would be allowed to operate unlawfully or exploit students and parents through unauthorised fee collection or other illegal practices.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026