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KARACHI, Dec 7: The steering committee of the Sindh education department will take up the directive of the provincial education minister regarding delaying the commencement of academic session in educational institutions by four months, in its coming meeting, said sources in the education department.
It was learnt that in the light of the latest directive from the education minister, officials at the education department have started looking into the aspects and options in case the academic session is started in August instead of April.
The department has already started receiving feed backs from various quarters - for and against the move -- after an initial hint on the issue of proposed change in the start of session.
However, the steering committee, comprising senior officials of the Sindh education department, educational boards, education departments of district governments, is the right body to firm up or discard the idea of change, said the source. The minutes of the steering committee meetings would be forwarded to the education minister for a final say, the source added.
The departments is at present in the process of contacting chairmen of education boards and heads of other departments concerned, as the issue requires a thorough examination, particularly due to the fact that a change in the session commencement was affected in the past too.
In fact, the department, among other matters, has also to see how it can tie up examinations and employment affairs, said an academician, adding that the department cannot ignore what is observed regarding conduct of exams and teaching at schools and colleges in other provinces.
When contacted, the secretary of the provincial education department, Hashim Leghari, said that a meeting of the steering committee of the department could be convened within 10-15 days to discuss the feasibility of the change directed by the education minister. Educational boards are also being requested to give their views on the subject and plans for conduct of examinations in future, he added.
APSMA: The All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA) on Tuesday said that the Sindh Education Department should take administrations of public and private schools, parents and teachers into confidence before taking any decision regarding the start of academic year from August, adds PPI.
"All stakeholders should be given the opportunity to express their affirmations or reservations on the suggestion, and a decision should be taken by taking stakeholders into confidence," said the APSMA Sindh Chairman, Syed Khalid Shah, in a statement.
He said that in the past too, the government had decided to start the academic session from August, but it was then resolved to start it from April owing to difference of opinion among all stakeholders.
"Projects fail and proposals are dropped when concerned people and personalities are not taken into confidence," he said. The chairman said that the association was collecting suggestions from private schools and would then present it to the education minister and secretary for consideration.
