ISLAMABAD, June 5: The ministry of education is planning to set up a body to regulate the working of private institutions, well placed sources told Dawn.

The main objective of the regulatory regime will be to monitor the private educational institutions whether these fulfil the prescribed standards both in terms of physical infrastructure and faculty, sources added.

An official concerned said the decision to establish a regulatory body had been taken keeping in view the mushrooming of educational institutions in the private sector in utter disregard of educational standards.

Commenting on the prerequisites required to run an institutions, he said physical infrastructure such as building and its landscape, laboratories, classrooms and quality of the staff would be given importance before allowing anyone to establish a school or college in private sector.

When asked, as to who would determine the fee schedule of these institutions, he said the ministry had decided to leave the issue to the public itself.

“If someone is satisfied with the quality of education and is willing to pay the steep fees, it is not the ministry’s business to interfere in the issue”, he remarked.

The education ministry had formulated a package, which among other things provided for take-over of government schools by the private sector under adopt-a-school scheme.

The ministry, under education reforms 2001-2004, had also proposed leasing public sector institutions to private sector for improving and strengthening management and utilization of their buildings.

“A key element of the education sector reforms agenda is the development of partnerships between private and public sectors and with the NGOs at the elementary, secondary, technical and higher levels with a strategic role for the private institutions,” another official said.

Sources said the proposed package of incentives for the private sector include provision of land, free of cost or at concessional rates in rural areas; utilities such as electricity, gas to be assessed at non-commercial rates; liberal grant of charters; exemption of customs duty on import of educational material and 50 per cent exemption in income tax for faculty, management and support staff.

Private sector school survey 2001 indicates that there are 36,096 private institutions in Pakistan. Out of the total, 66.4 per cent are in Punjab, 17.9 per cent in Sindh, 12.3 per cent in NWFP, 1.5 per cent in Balochistan, 0.9 per cent in FATA and one per cent in Islamabad. Overall 39 per cent of the institutions are in rural areas and 61 per cent in urban areas.

The survey further highlights the distribution by category indicating that 14,758 schools (43.5 per cent) are in the primary sector, 12,250 in the middle (37 per cent), 5,940 in the secondary (17.5 per cent) and only 695 (2 per cent) in the higher secondary and above.