“We are completely against an arms culture in schools and will not allow any teacher to carry arms on school premises,” Atif Khan.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Education Atif Khan admitted on Tuesday that the provincial government lacks the authority to monitor matters pertaining to private schools.
Khan was addressing parents protesting the recent fee increase by private schools. The minister called a meeting with the parents on Tuesday at the Chief Minister Secretariat to listen to their concerns.
The atmosphere became slightly heated when the house was opened for questions after Khan listened to the parents’ representatives and completed his speech. Most of the minister’s talk focused on his department’s role in improving government schools.
People present in the hall were expecting the minister to issue orders to Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Riaz Mehsud to take immediate action against private schools. Like the rest of the country, in Peshawar, parents have united against the increase in school fee and are exerting pressure on the government to devise a strategy. They said the institutions should not only be monitored but also categorised.
“I cannot decide whether private schools will charge Rs3,000 or Rs5,000 a month. They [school owners] will say that those who can’t afford the fee should take their children elsewhere. We can’t discourage them as they would stop their operations in K-P,” he said, while replying to the questions.
Khan repeatedly told the participants about the improving standards of government schools and suggested parents should stop looking towards private ones. “Their demand is high and if something is wanted, the rates also increase,” he said.
The minister admitted government schools fail to produce the best results despite decent infrastructure, highest paid teachers, free books and other facilities.
He blamed previous governments for ignoring state-owned schools and dropping their standards. “If you want an actual solution for this problem then you have to improve government schools.”
The parents, however, told the minister that the provincial administration was not only responsible for government schools, but also for private schools.
A man present in the hall questioned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s slogan of an equal education system for everyone. “We would be happy if children studying at a government school in Taru Jabba are taught the same material as the ones in the quality private schools of Peshawar are,” he said.
“The teacher who educates the children should be competent and it does not matter whether the child is seated on a bench or a mat,” he said.
The minister replied that the government is working on the curriculum and will soon start board exams for Grade-V and all schools will have the same reading material. Syed Ijaz Ali Shah, president of the Pakistan Parents Association Peshawar chapter, told the minister about a legislative bill for private schools drafted by former minister of education Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party. He also demanded the categorisation of schools in the province.
“There should be a regulatory authority that keeps tabs on private schools and the government should introduce the necessary legislation for this purpose.” He recalled it had been prepared by the previous government, but never tabled in the assembly thanks to “influential school owners.”
Dr Khursheed, a man representing the parents, said that like the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, a regulatory body should pay visits to private schools and examine their working. He also suggested that the body should also issue licences.
The minister admitted that despite education being a provincial subject, K-P lacks a regulatory authority for private schools on the province level. “We would make a regulatory authority and will make plans for the fee structure of the schools. The body will include parents’ representatives, owners, government official and senior academics.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2015.
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