KARACHI, Jan 23: The Education Department of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has failed to produce the relevant court order pertaining to the evacuation of the school premises in Firdous Colony, that had housed two shifts of secondary and primary schools where almost one thousand students were enrolled.

The CDGK Education Department officials remained tight-lipped on Tuesday and refused to produce a copy of the court order on the basis of which the two shifts of the Federal English Boys Secondary School, and the primary school, were vacated abruptly not even taking into consideration the fact that the examination are to be held in April, May.

The officials said the file about the relevant school was moved from one office to the other and the orders implemented at break-neck speed on the instructions of high-ups in the provincial government.

Requesting anonymity they said they feared being transferred, suspension from duty, even losing their jobs if they uttered anything about the shifting of this school.

Other sources in the education department said the order for shifting and vacating the school building was issued in 1998, and had lost its validity.

According to rules a new summary should have been moved after a case is again referred to a department, in this case, the Sindh Education Department, which was supposed to give its opinion whether the school could legally be handed over to the owner and what were the legal hitches.

All these prescribed measures and official requirements have been bypassed and the hasty decision taken to hand over the school building to the owner, the sources said.

The Sindh Education Department had issued a notification in 1998 which was implemented in January 2007 about shifting the students of Federal English Boys Secondary School (morning) to the Government Boys Secondary School in Mureed Goth, Firdous Colony and the second shift of the Federal English Boys Secondary School to Mumtaz Government Boys Secondary School in Firdous Colony.

The students of Federal Government Boys Primary School morning and afternoon were adjusted in Ziaul Uloom Government Boys Primary School in Firdous Colony.

The Mumtaz Government Boys Secondary School building is dilapidated and can not accomodate the students already enrolled. It would be difficult to find room for the additional students.

Some Sindh Education Department officials, also requesting anonymity, said they were not aware about any court order about the school premises in question.

They said the plot of the school was allotted to Irshad Waheed in 1952, whose name was on the papers. After his death, the owner changed and the plot was transferred to Abdul Qadir son of Haji Usman in 2000. Meanwhile, the Sindh Professors & Lecturers’ Association have also expressed concern over the demolition of the school building and its handing over to a private individual.

However, they appreciated the Sindh Chief Secretary for taking notice of the situation.

In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, Professors Syed Riaz Ahsan, Manzoor Hussain Chishtie, Mirza Athar Hussain, and Iftikhar Mohammad Azmi, said their association had frequently pointed out anti-education acts in the past.

Referring to rules, they said private educational institutions were nationalised in 1972 under martial law regulations and the 1973 Constitution provided it protection.

Later the Eighth Amendment in the constitution, gave permission to hand over public sector schools to those welfare, community based organisations or missionary institutions, who had previously run such schools and they were bound to use the premises to run only schools.

The educationists were of the opinion that handing over the school in Firdous Colony to a private individual to use the land to construct a commercial edifice was a blatant violation of the constitution.

They demanded of the chief justice of the Sindh High court and the Sindh chief secretary to constitute an inquiry into the matter.

They also demanded immediate measures to save the academic year of the displaced students.

In another statement, Pasban Karachi also expressed serious concern over the shifting of the four schools housed in the building in Firdous Colony and the premises handed over to a private individual.

The Pasban leaders criticised the anti-education policies of the government and demanded of the Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Sindh Chief Secretary to institute a probe and stern action against those involved in playing with the future of students.