Tuesday, November 23, 2010

No watchdog for private schools!

By Khalid Khattak

LAHORE: THE powerful private schools mafia has failed the Punjab government’s much-hyped policy of establishing a regulatory body for them despite the lapse of two years.

A high-powered committee, comprising educationists, MPAs and private schools representatives, was formed by Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif in late 2008.

Besides reviewing the existing Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance 1984, the committee was given the mandate to propose suitable amendments to the ordinance with the view to establishing a standard for infrastructure, teaching staff and syllabi, curriculum and examination system of the private sector schools.

It was also tasked with establishing fee structure of private schools linked to the standard of service and facilities offered by the institutions.

The committee, though after a delay, had given its recommendations. Afterwards, on various occasions, different government officials claimed that the draft regarding the proposed watchdog had been sent to the Law Department. However, nothing more was heard later on and people are still waiting for the regulatory body.

Besides genuine public concerns, the absence of a regulatory body has also been causing problems for the government as at times it seems unable to implement its policies in private sector schools.

Almost every year, private schools across the province lock horns with the government over the schedule of summer vacation while accepting or rejecting grade-5 and grade-8 uniform examinations by the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) is another issue.

The failure in enforcement of policies is quite evident from the unbridled working of private schools where people are fleeced as much as a private institute can.

The most recent notification of the Schools Education Department, Punjab, regarding resumption of six working days is likely to meet a similar fate of “defiance” as many elite schools generally observe a holiday on Saturday.

It is important to mention here that on the instructions of the federal government, the Punjab government had announced functioning of schools five days a week instead of six days a week as part of the save energy drive. However, the Punjab government has now announced to resume old weekly schedule according to which Saturday will be considered as a working day.

The notification issued by the Schools Department clearly reads: “All public and private schools will remain open for six days in a week from November 22, 2010 and only Sunday will be the weekly holiday.”

The stakeholders argue that if the government cannot ensure implementation of its policies and rules in private sector schools why they are made part of notifications.

It is also pertinent to mention here that the Punjab government during the tenure of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as chief minister of the province was quite ambitious to introduce a regulatory body for private sector schools. However, this could not happen.

The current Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif also took up the issue quite ambitiously and formed a committee to introduce a regulatory body for private sector schools. Almost two years have passed since the formation of the committee but the proposed controlling authority is still not in sight.

Chairman of Chief Minister’s Taskforce on Elementary Education Raja Anwar was quite vocal and active regarding the establishment of the regulatory body for private schools in the beginning. However, it seems he has run out of steam now.

Sources claim that the CM’s taskforce chairman has completely focused the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) ever since he became its chairman.

According to the sources, the issue of great public interest had been put on the backburner as the Punjab government was facing immense pressure from politicians who own big private schools.
The public has been quite critical of unbridled working of private schools over the years. People have been complaining about the absence of government’s authority in determining fee structure of private schools, heavy registration fee, mandatory purchase of uniform and stationery from the prescribed stores, annual charges and many other monetary matters.

When contacted, Secretary Schools Aslam Kamboh said he could not tell anything offhand about the proposed regulatory body for private schools. However, he said that any policy which seemed to be disputed could not be introduced at a time when academic session was at the peak.

Answering a question, he said mentioning private sector in notifications was important as almost 96 percent of such institutes followed government policies and academic calendar.

The News could not reach Chairman Taskforce for Elementary Education Raja Anwar for his comments.

Source: The News International
Sunday, November 21, 2010

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