KARACHI, Jan 15: The federal government has agreed in principle to hand over the Sindh Madressatul Islam and Dawood College of Engineering & Technology (DCET) to the Sindh government and to elevate the status of these institutes.

The Sindh government has decided to move a summary to the Sindh Chief Minister for the purpose of raising the Sindh Madressatul Islam to the level of university and for enlarging the scope of DCET to a degree awarding institution.

The federal government had taken control of these institutions in 1974 with the initial aim of reforming them and then handing them back to the provincial government, a move which was indefinitely put off.

Presiding over a meeting here on Monday, the Sindh Minister for Education and Literacy, Dr. Hamida Khuhro, directed the Provincial Secretary Education, Sabhago Khan Jatoi, and provincial Education Manager (Colleges) Sindh, Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh, to prepare a plan for the up-gradation of the Sindh Madressatul Islam and Dawood College of Engineering and Technology in view of their imminent transfer to the provincial government.

Referring to the letter from the Federal Minister for Education, Javed Ashraf Qazi, Dr. Khuhro informed the meeting about the federal government's consent for transfer of these two premier educational institutions. She quoted the contents of the letter, saying, “The Ministry of Education agrees in principle to transfer Sindh Madressatul Islam and Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi to the Sindh Education Department”.

Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh informed the meeting that an earlier committee headed by former Vice Chancellor of Karachi University Dr Jamil Jalbi, comprising high ranking officers from the provincial and the federal government, had recommended the change of status of the Sindh Madressah to a university.

Following the recent move, Dr Shaikh has suggested that once the administrative control is fully transferred to the provincial government, then the upgrading plans of SMI and DECT to the level of a university and a degree awarding institute can be followed through by the Sindh Chief Minister.