Over six months have passed since the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), following brutal attack at the Army Public School in Peshawar, decided to install CCTV cameras at educational institutions.

However, despite a budgetary allocation, no cameras have been installed at a large number of schools. “Meeting after meeting is held to discuss the installation of the cameras but no progress has been made on ground,” an official of the FDE told Dawn. The FDE wasted four months before giving the contract to a firm in April, violating the rules for awarding the contract. However, Minister for CADD Barrister Usman Ibrahim intervened and cancelled the illegal tender.

He then authorised the administrators of 391 educational institutions to purchase CCTV cameras for their campuses. The FDE was to transfer Rs 100,000 to each school for buying the cameras, a UPS and an LCD screen. But nine schools are yet to receive the money for the cameras. “I don’t think these institutions will be able to receive the funds,” an officer of the FDE said. — By Kashif Abbasi

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2015

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