Private school body demands permanent head for PIERA

Says incumbent interim head is facing corruption charges worth millions

ISLAMABAD: A body of private schools in the capital has demanded that the government appoint a permanent chairman of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA).

Dr Afzal Babar, president of the Private Schools Network (PSN) of Islamabad, said that a permanent chief of the body was critical to regulating private schools and protecting the rights of parents and students.

“The regulatory authority, formed in 2006, is unable to fulfil its responsibilities without a permanent chairman since 2013 and is also involved in financial embezzlement,” Dr Babar claimed.

He said the service rules for this authority were notified in 2016 but later on, challenged in Islamabad High Court. With the case sub-judice, no one was ready to amend the rules.

Babar added that students studying private educational institutions were suffering due to exorbitant fees structure and other charges, low standard of education and lack of facilities.

He said that the 16 employees of PEIRA had staged protests several on numerous occasions, demanding the appointment of its permanent chairman, but no one paid any heed to those protests.

Babar said he was supposed to be heading PIERA, but his place was occupied by PEIRA Member Imtiaz Ali Qureshi who is facing charges of embezzling around Rs50 million meant for buying and supplying free books to needy students.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2017.