Moalims

PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is planning on privatising government-run colleges across the province.

A senior official at the higher education department told The Express Tribune the plan is to initially privatise select colleges in Peshawar and Mardan as a pilot project. Others would follow the same path in the next phase, he said. The K-P deputy secretary colleges also confirmed the development.

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The privatisation bug

The official, requesting anonymity, shared the Directorate of Higher Education planned on privatising 109 government-run colleges across the province. He said nearly 25,000 students from middle-income families had enrolled in these colleges, while thousands of people were employed as teachers or staffers at these institutes.

The official said the department first decided to privatise all colleges, but later changed course to start with pilot projects. He said all the necessary documentation to start the process had been completed.

He said the main objective was to enhance the quality of education at the secondary level and also regularise the attendance of teachers and students.

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All Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Subject Specialists Association (AKSSA) President Salar Islam Tariq told The Express Tribune the government was creating certain issues even though the education system had seen an overall improvement.

Discussing the privatisation of higher education institutions, he said contractors would receive huge fees – a cost borne by students within their fees. This, said Tariq, would make it more difficult for many children to afford higher education. He alleged certain “elements were trying to impose privatisation with a hidden agenda to make money on the side.”

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He believed the standard of education at government colleges was better than privately-run entities. About poor results at government colleges, Tariq said most talented students were snapped up by Islamia College and Edwardes College Peshawar. The remainder enrolled in the other government colleges.

He demanded the government not create further hurdles in the path of education and focus on improving standards in the province.

About the future course of action, Tariq shared, “Teachers at colleges and at the higher-secondary level have decided to oppose the government’s plans.” He warned of protests if the administration failed to withdraw this contentious decision.

He emphasised that implementation of this plan would result in higher education inching further away from the grasp of the financially disadvantaged. He believed it would have a detrimental effect on overall peace and harmony across K-P.

Revamping education

When contacted, K-P Deputy Secretary Colleges Habibur Rehman denied reports of all colleges being privatised, however, he confirmed the pilot project was in the works.

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Rehman said the idea was to enhance the quality of education and boost both student and teacher attendance. To gauge its success, the privatisation plan would roll out under a trial basis at a few educational institutes. Rehman said, “The admission fee and other expenses would not increase and the same teachers would be retained.”

The director said certain people were against the project and were inventing claims about education becoming more expensive at the college level. He stressed the plan would not affect students other than improving attendance and the quality of education.

He pointed out currently students were not going to college regularly and teachers were not taking interest. However, under the new system, the college heads would be responsible for academic performance and would be able to take action against teachers and students who do not attend regularly.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2016.