Sindh govt moves to clip powers of education boards

The Sindh government has approved a new steering committee structure aimed at curtailing the autonomy of public education boards in the province. The move comes following recent amendments to the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Act, 1972, which have now become part of the law after being passed by the Sindh Assembly and signed by the acting governor in June.

According to official sources, the newly approved steering committee will have administrative and supervisory powers over all education boards. While the structure has been finalised, the actual formation of the committee is still awaited.

Under the new arrangement, the Boards of Governors (BoGs) of all educational boards have also been restructured. Chairpersons will no longer be members of their own BoGs. Instead, each BoG will now comprise academicians, civil society representatives, and nominated principals. A maximum of one chairperson may be nominated to serve on another board's BoG.

The reconstitution of BoGs has already begun as part of the first phase of implementation.

The provincial government is also considering a proposal to downgrade the post of board chairperson from BPS-20/21 to BPS-19/20. As per the working paper prepared for the upcoming Sindh cabinet meeting, the tenure of the chairperson will be three years, extendable by another two years.

According to documents seen by The Express Tribune, the new steering committee will be chaired by a nominee of the controlling authority - the chief minister of Sindh - and may be a provincial minister. The secretary of universities and boards will serve as the vice chairperson.

Other members of the committee will include secretary college education; secretary school education; special secretary finance; all chairpersons of education boards; chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board; director general of private institutions (Schools and Colleges); a representative each from S&GAD and IBCC; one education policy expert and one technical education expert (to be appointed by the controlling authority); two eminent educationists to be nominated by the chief minister; and two members of the provincial assembly.

All ex-officio members will serve a term of two years.

Apart from administrative oversight, the committee will also be empowered to issue binding directives to the boards on various operational matters.

Sources revealed that under the new policy, the authority of board chairpersons to make postings and transfers of officers above BPS 17 is being withdrawn.

Interestingly, a few years ago, a similar attempt was made to place the boards under a central commission, which was met with strong opposition, including strikes and examination boycotts by board employees. That move was eventually shelved.

This time, however, the government has quietly passed the amendments with little public attention, and implementation is already underway.

Officials claim that the restructuring aims to improve governance, enhance transparency, and ensure greater coordination among the educational boards in Sindh.