ISLAMABAD: At a time when education emergency is in place in the country, both public and private sectors regulatory bodies in Islamabad are running under ad hoc arrangements, raising questions over the efficiency of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), which regulates over 430 schools and colleges in Islamabad, is being run under ad hoc arrangements since July 2023. Moreover, the office of chairperson Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) has also been officiated under interim arrangements since January this year.

Interestingly, Prime Minister’s Office a few months ago had sought a report from the ministry of education on the issue, but still both the positions are vacant.

A joint secretary of the education ministry has been looking after the affairs of FDE for over years, while the executive director Inter-Board Coordination Commission has been looking into the affairs of Peira for the last four months.

“There is a need to conduct proper inquiry to fix responsibility against all those who are responsible for this inordinate delay. The post of DG FDE is lying vacant for the last around three years; this is a very serious issue,” said a schoolteacher.

On the other hand, after a considerable delay, the ministry of education last year referred the case of appointment of the DG to Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

Subsequently, after conducting a test and interviews based on merit, the FPSC recommended the appointment of Javed Iqbal Mirza as DG FDE on March 4 this year.

The FPSC also wrote a letter to the ministry of education in this regard. But, in a surprising move, the ministry of education and the federal government have not appointed Mr Mirza as the FDE chief. Mr Mirza is already serving as director administration FDE.

Sources said that after waiting for months, he filed a petition in Islamabad High Court, seeking his appointment in the light of FPSC’s recommendation.

The sources said the ministry of education will file its reply on the next date of hearing likely to be conducted in the second week of June.

The second key organisation under the education ministry, Peira, is also functioning without a regular chairperson. Some months ago, former chairperson Dr Zia Batool resigned to head another organisation.

On January 7, the acting charge of chairperson Peira was assigned to the executive director of IBCC for three months and recently he was given another three months as the ministry failed to complete the process of hiring a regular chairperson.

Secretary Education Nadeem Mahbub could not be approached for his comments. However, other officers said that the education ministry wanted to fill both posts as soon as possible.

“There were some technical reasons involved in appointment of DG FDE and ministry and federal government will share the point of view before the court,” said an officer of the ministry. He said process of hiring chairperson Peira was near completion as after the competitive process, a summary carrying the names of three shortlisted candidates had been moved to the PM office.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026