Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers on Monday criticised the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) for failing to grant admission to all eligible students in state-run schools and colleges.

The observations were made during a meeting of a sub-committee of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.

The sub-committee met under the chairmanship of MNA Nafeesa Khan Khattak. The lawmakers discussed the ongoing admissions process in FDE institutions. Khattak asked officials to share the reasons why students were not being accommodated in state-run schools and colleges.

FDE Director General (DG) Hasnat Qureshi informed the committee that 698 children out of 2,031 applicants had been granted admission in prep classes.

“We received the 2,568 applications for admission to grade 1. A total of 906 students were granted admissions in their respective area institutes. In this way, a total of 1,666 admissions have been granted to students of both classes in the model colleges,” he said.

Referring to schools, Qureshi said that 10,234 students had been granted admission to prep classes and 15,651 to class 1. “A total of 19,030 students were granted admission in grade 6,” he said.

He shared handouts issued by the schools about the total number of admissions granted this year.

“So far, 46,519 admissions have been granted in the new academic session,” he said.

Khattak said that the directorate should formulate a comprehensive admission policy. “The maximum number of students should be accommodated,” she said.

She said that the FDE should introduce a mechanism to ensure that students got admission to their nearest schools/college. “The residents of a particular area should be given preference. Then applicants from other areas or sectors should be considered,” she said.

In response, the FDE official said that the directorate had no any specific tools/system to crosscheck the residential area of an applicant.

The committee also discussed the issue of quality of education at FDE institutes. The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) officials said that the Prime Minister’s Education Reforms Programme (PMERP) had been started in the capital’s schools. “Almost 50 percent educational institutions have been reformed thoroughly. The quality of education in them has also been improved,” the officials said.

Khattak said that local teachers should be hired on a priority basis. “This is integral for ensuring the quality of education. Local teachers can perform better as compared to anyone who has to come from a far-flung area,” she said.

PMERP National Coordinator Ali Raza shared the latest developments about the program. “Renovation work at 22 schools has been completed. PC-I for the 200 more educational institutions has been approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Work on them will be started very soon,” he said. Raza added that CADD had also forwarded the summary for the renovation of 200 more schools/colleges to PM Nawaz Sharif for his approval.

The lawmakers also expressed concern over the sale of drugs in the educational institutions. The committee chairperson asked CADD and FDE officials for a briefing on the issue.

The officials said that such incidents had been reported from two federal colleges. “However, when the FDE investigated the reports, they turned out to be false,” the officials said.

They said that the police and the Anti Narcotic Force (ANF) had also investigated the claims and rejected them.