SHC takes back Public School management from Sukkur IBA

The Sindh High Court Hyderabad Bench has taken back the management of Public School Hyderabad, city's largest school, from the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration University (SIBAU).

After spending four years under SIBAU, the court gave back the administration of PSH to the school's board of governors, which is headed by the commissioner of the Hyderabad division.

PSH founded in 1961 and inaugurated by Field Marshal Ayub Khan, has run under a public-private partnership for decades and considered a leading educational institution of Sindh. SHC Hyderabad bench in its verdict stated, "… the subject institution shall be run by its BoG itself on its own." The order given on four separate petitions concerning the PSH read, "this is irrespective to the element of acquiring services and assistance as may be required from anywhere and anyone including SIBAU."

One of the petitions had challenged the handing over of the school management to SIBAU by former commissioner Hyderabad Muhammad Abbass Baloch in October, 2018.

The commissioner had made the case for shifting the authority to SIBAU for the purpose of improving the educational standards and addressing the schools financial straits.

The school comprises several clusters of buildings for school, administration, sports, hostels and staff residences which spread over more than 100 acres.

Situated along the city's rapidly growing commercial market, the Autobahn road, in Latifabad, the land for the school was donated by the Talpur family, one of whose member sits on the board as a private member.

The school's prime location land also came under encroachment for some time but the court recovered the land.

The school's teachers had opposed the handover and their resentments grew when the financial woes continued even under SIBAU and their salary increments of six or seven years were not paid. The appointment of the PSH principal Imran Larik, which was done by SIBAU, was also challenged in the SHC.

The SHC, in the same order, directed the BoG of PSH to revisit all the appointments in the school which had been made by SIBAU including that of the principal.

The court said the board shall give a fair hearing to all those appointed by SIBAU before taking a decision whether to sack or to keep those employees.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2022.