Private schools in K-P threaten protest over PRA

K-P education minister says stakeholders were taken on board before bill was drafted

PESHAWAR: A group of private education institutes have rejected the establishment of a private school regulation authority and has threatened to lock all private institutions across the province and stage a sit-in unless their recommendations are included in the bill.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has claimed that all stakeholders were taken into confidence before a draft of the regularity authority was formulated.

The provincial cabinet had on May 3 approved the draft of the bill to form a body which would regulate all private educational institutions in the province. The bill is expected to be tabled before the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly at its next session.

Private Education Network (PEN) Provincial President Saleem Khan told The Express Tribune that all private educational institutes had rejected the body.

“We do not accept the education minister as the chairman of the private school regularity authority, which would regulate the appointment of teachers and determine their salaries and categories of students,” he stated.

As per a schedule for province-wide protests against the government’s decision by all private educational institutions, he said that they would start protesting from May 11 and would stage a sit-in outside the K-P Assembly on May 16.

If the government continues to ignore their demands, Saleem said that they would close their institutions and present their keys to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.

Stakeholders consulted

Meanwhile, the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Advisor Jamaluddin told The Express Tribune that plans for establishing the authority were not drafted in a day, rather but it was a long process in which the department had taken all stakeholders onboard.

He added that representative from all private educational institutes had participated in meetings and discussions related to the body and their views and suggestions had been considered by the government.

However, he urged representatives of private educational institutes to send in their input on the matter instead of agitating since the draft for the body had yet to be tabled in the assembly.

The K-P elementary and secondary advisor clarified that owing to some misunderstandings, hurdles had been created. But he expressed confidence in resolving them before the bill is passed by the assembly.

Later, private education institutes representative Aqeel Razzaq said that they had agreed to sit with the government and tackle the issue together.

He added that they did not wish to protest on the roads but the government had compelled them to do so.

He demanded that the government call an urgent meeting with private education institutes representatives and resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, K-P Education Minister Atif Khan told The Express Tribune that the previous government had tried to set up a similar regularity authority for private education but failed.

He added that the new body would reduce the extra education burden on parents by analysing the performance of private schools from every angle.

Noting that the chief minister had approved the draft and that it would be tabled in the assembly during its next session.

According to the draft for the Private School Regularity Authority (PRA) prepared by the K-P elementary and secondary education department, the body will consist of 15 members with the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Minister serving as its chairman. Moreover, it would have two members from the private schools, two educationists, parents, and a managing director who will look after the authority’s affairs.

The body would mainly be responsible for registering and regulating schools, supervising their curricula, fee structure, academic schedules, and co-curricular activities. Further, the PRA would ensure that private schools observe vacations in schools.

Once established, no school would be allowed to operate in the province unless it is registered with the authority. Moreover, no education board would affiliate unregistered schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2017.