ISLAMABAD, April 8: Introduction of a foreign school system and its syllabus in Pakistan does not require any permission from the federal government, the National Assembly was told on Thursday. Parliamentary secretary for education Deewan Jaffer Bukhari during the question hour said no prior permission of the government was required for opening any foreign school system in the country.

To a question, he explained that the national curriculum had been revised and updated during 2000-02 as under the law the education ministry was responsible for maintaining the standards and quality of education through curriculum and textbook development for which the ministry had already introduced a uniform system of education.

He also explained that the Parents teachers Association (PTA) fund had been charged for the last two years from the students of federal government educational institutions Islamabad at the rate of Rs30 per student per year in urban and Rs10 per student per year in the rural areas.

The amount accumulated through the PTA fund and donations helped the educational institutions improve their physical facilitates and infrastructure while free books, uniform, school fees of poor and needy students were also met through the fund. The fund was also used for whitewash and other repair works.

In some institutions, local teachers have been appointed on contract through PTAs fund to meet the shortage of staff. Scholarships and stipends have also been awarded to position holders, therefore the government was not considering any proposal to stop the collection of the fund.

To another question, he said under the Education Sector Reforms Assistance (ESRA) programme, a first group of 18 teachers, education personnel, NGO representatives and ESRA training coordinators were currently receiving training in the US.

USAID anticipated sending a second group of about 30 participants to US in August/September 2004. The training, which commenced on March 1, would end in April 23.

Similarly, he added, USAID was also imparting training to 250 master trainers in science, mathematics and English for over a period of three years under Pakistan Teacher Education and Professional Development Programme.

The first batch of 35 master trainers has left for training in US while a group of 26 trainers would leave in May for training. Besides, three groups comprising 26 members in each would leave for training in August-September. The rest of the teachers would go for training in 2005-06.

He conceded that under the purview of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), public schools were functioning in different residential sectors of Islamabad in accordance with the master plan of Capital Development Authority to provide educational facilities to the residents at their doorsteps. These private educational institutions do not fall under the FDE, he added.