After a long wait of two years, the District Education Authority (DEA) finally approved granting registration to 85 new private schools in the Rawalpindi district.
The DEA also allowed these private schools to start new admissions.
The registration of 186 new private schools and the renewal of registration of over 30,000 private schools in the whole district had been hanging in the balance for the last two years.
The approval was given at a meeting of the DEA chaired by Chief Executive Officer Dr Tariq Qazi. All-Pakistan Private Schools Management Authority Chairman Abrar Ahmed Khan and others also participated in the meeting
The authority will convene another meeting on March 1 to approve the registration of more schools. A weekly meeting of the DEA will be held on a weekly basis to dispose of pending applications, seeking registration and renewal of registration of private schools.
The private schools earlier barred from admitting students have conditionally been allowed for admissions.
Currently, a total of 2,700 government schools, 3,000 registered private schools and 5,000 unregistered schools are functioning in the district.
According to authority member Abrar Ahmed Khan, all pending cases would be resolved during the registration authority's weekly meetings. “We will also find a solution to other problems being faced by private schools,” he said.
Earlier, all these schools had been denied affiliation by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Rawalpindi after the DRA failed to register them and renew their registration.
According to sources, this had put the career of thousands of students enrolled in these schools at stake, risking their appearance in the next matriculation examination.
School principals of these new schools including Hafiz Idris Ali and Raja Zulqarnain said that they have completed all legal papers and the registration should be started immediately.
The district government had earlier decided to bring all private schools, academies and colleges across the district under the ambit of the law.
All private schools will have to be divided into three categories and the fee structure was to be formulated according to category. It was also decided to close down private schools consisting of two rooms.
In 2021, the Punjab government made the registration system of all private schools completely online and it was decided to register all private schools for only one year. After a thorough inspection of the said schools during the one year, they were to be issued permanent registration licences.
Owing to the frequent shuffling of the Punjab governments, this system has been paralysed. Under the new system, all registered private schools across the province were instructed to obtain registration for extended two years instead of one year.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2023.
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