ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: Education Minister Zobaida Jalal has directed the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) not to refuse admission to any student in the colleges of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), an official source told Dawn.

“We can’t afford further drop-outs at the secondary level,” she was quoted as saying by the official. The minister also stated that the government was pursuing a policy to upgrade the education standard of all the colleges in the federal capital.

The purpose of the policy was to ease out pressure from certain colleges of Islamabad like Islamabad College for Boys (ICB) G-6/3 and Islamabad Model College For Boys (IMCB) F-8/4 where every student wanted to get admission. The candidates should not close their options and instead of concentrating on few colleges only, they should try to get admission in the colleges where they were being offered admissions on the basis of merit because of their marks.

She said every student, who had passed the matriculation examination, would definitely get admission in the college but strictly on merit.

The minister had also asked the FDE director general recently to meet the legislators who came to him in connection with the admission of some students instead of engaging his subordinates in this regard.