PESHAWAR: Employees of eight boards of intermediate and secondary education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa called off their strike after 18 days on Tuesday as the provincial government announced withdrawal of its board merger plans.

The development came during a meeting between elementary and secondary education minister Shahram Tarakai and All Board Employees Coordination Council chairman Tariq Safi here. Senior officials of the education department were also present in the meeting.

The government had planned reforms in education boards and examination system.

Under the plans, the Peshawar education board was to be declare the ‘mother board’ with the seven others functioning as its branches. Also, matriculation and intermediate board examinations along with paper setting and marking in the province were to be centralised.

Board staff members to have representation in govt’s reforms panel

The employees had locked all board offices against those reforms and thus, leading to a long delay in the announcement of intermediate exam results.

Mr Safi told Dawn that the board employees had ended the strike after the education minister declared the government had no intentions to establish a single board after abolition of all others.

He said two board employees would be part of a reform committee notified by the government.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan claimed in an official statement that his government didn’t intend to abolish any educational board in the province and instead, it was simply working for the introduction of an IT-based reforms to ensure a uniform marking and examination system to do away with discrimination and ensure justice among students.

Chairing a meeting regarding educational boards here, the chief minister said reforms in every sector were pivotal in order to meet with contemporary challenges.

“Outdated procedures and laws are not only hindering development but also jeopardising the future of our children,” he said.

Mr Mahmood said his government had taken a number of pragmatic steps to introduce reforms in every sector in order to make them compatible with modern needs.

“In order to ensure provision of uniform education, introduction of identical examination and marking system is direly needed. Our government is focusing on the enabling of our students to not only compete nationally but also prepare them for international platforms,” he said.

The chief minister said it was the priority of his government to ensure equal access of common man to quality education for which multi-dimensional reforms had been introduced alongside development projects to raise the standard of education in government schools.

He said the government’s initiatives had restored the people’s confidence in its educational institutions.

The meeting was attended by elementary and secondary education minister Shahram Khan Tarakai, principal secretary to the chief minister Amjad Ali Khan, the elementary and secondary education secretary and other relevant officials.

The minister briefed the chief minister on his negotiations with the representatives of board employees and said all apprehensions of the visitors regarding dissolution of education boards and future of staff members had been addressed.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2022