Legislative delays: Draft to regulate private institutes yet to see light of day

Tense political climate among the causes of delays


Riazul Haq October 19, 2014

ISLAMABAD:


An amended law to regulate over 1,000 private educational institutes in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) is in the doldrums despite the completion of procedural requirements.


The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) was established via a presidential ordinance in September 2006. The bill was later referred to a committee for amendments on October 14, 2009. PEIRA’s mandate is to register and regulate the affairs of private schools and colleges functioning within the ICT jurisdiction.

The number of private educational institutions in rural and urban areas of Islamabad has spiralled over the last few years. In 2007, the number of private institutions was 570, while there are over 1,000 active institutes according to the most recent estimates, said PEIRA acting chief Imtiaz Ali Qureshi. Some 22 new schools were registered before Eid, he added. Besides, there are over 11,000 teachers and 250,000 students in these schools.

Hurdles in implementation

Implementation of the approved law has not gone ahead due to several political and bureaucratic hurdles placed by the owners of private schools and individuals related to these institutions.

In November 2013, a group of four committees of private education institutes were formed at a meeting held by the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

CADD looks over PEIRA and held the meeting to formulate a law with the consensus of these institutions.

In January, they finally came to an agreement on uniformity of curriculum and categorisation of schools on performance, but not on a uniform fee structure.

Current status

Later, the amended draft was sent to the law division for vetting and is now ready for parliamentary approval. A parliamentary body formed a four member sub-committee two months ago for which August 18 was the day on which CADD was supposed to present the draft before them, but due to the political situation, it has yet to be implemented.

Enforcement of the act has drawn the ire of private schools’ owners and after receiving notices from PEIRA for alleged violations, a few of them held protests October 1.

“We were sidelined and specifically targeted because our schools are not as well-known as other elite institutions. We got fined for petty issues,” said Chaudhry Obaidullah, a member of Private Schools and Colleges Association. He claimed that inspection teams fined them for no reason while influential school owners got off scot free.

The PEIRA acting chairperson has a lot to say about these institutions. He said PEIRA and CADD are being attacked just because they are trying to nab violators. “When our teams visit the schools, they see laboratories, libraries and other [necessary facilities], but when we hold surprise checks, there is nothing of the sort. Even staffers from the initial visits are missing,” he commented curtly.

He said those who are protesting were trying to influence PEIRA’s decision-making and most of them have yet to register their schools, adding that even their associations are not registered with the district government.

On non-qualified teachers, Qureshi said schools have been told to verify the degrees of all teachers.

He said the next subcommittee meeting will “not hold good news for those who give Rs 4,000 salary to teachers and get them to sign documents claiming they are paid Rs 10,000 or more.”

CADD Additional Secretary Qaiser Majeed told The Express Tribune that with respect to PEIRA, there were several technical issues at ministry level as well, but these will be resolved soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2014.

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