Four of eight BISE chairmen asked to report to parent dept

PESHAWAR: The chairmen of four out of eight boards of intermediate and secondary education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been asked to report to their parent department from February 6 while additional charge of these boards has been given to the already overburdened secretary, elementary and secondary education.Separate notifications to this effect were issued on Wednesday. The notifications said that consequent upon completion of their “two-year tenure” the chairmen of Peshawar, Abbottabad and Bannu boards, Dr Fazlur Rahman (BS-20), Prof Sajjad (BS-20) and Jehandad (BS-19), respectively, were repatriated to their parent department with effect from February 6, 2019 for further adjustment. The notification of Mardan board chairman, Dr Shaukat Hayat (BS-20), had not been issued till filing of this report. But according to sources it was also likely to be issued on the same date.The chairmen of two other boards – Swat and Kohat – would complete their tenure in March 2019 and the government has yet to appoint new chairmen of any of these boards or give extension to the incumbents.There is no such rule in the acts of different boards that the tenure of chairman would be only for two years. The relevant section of the act says: “The chairmen shall hold the post during the pleasure of the controlling authority for a term not exceeding four years.”The decision, which hasn’t been taken yet by the controlling authority, would certainly affect the upcoming examinations for secondary school certificate starting from March 14.The boards are also required to conduct examinations/assessment of students of grade 5 and grade 8 this year. The absence of chairmen or late arrival of new ones would affect transparency, fairplay and smooth conduct of the upcoming examinations.It seems that education is no more a priority for the PTI’s provincial government as it has been unable to appoint even a minister for the higher and primary education departments of the province in the six months of its rule.An advisor Ziaullah Bangash has been named for primary education. He is presently abroad and wasn’t available to comment on the matter.The newly appointed secretary Dr Jamil Ahmad too could not be reached for comments despite several attempts.Special Secretary Arshad Khan also did not respond to the repeated calls and messages of this reporter.The Elementary and Secondary Education Department is one of the most important and biggest departments in the provincial setup.Three secretaries of this department were changed during six months. Now the secretary has been given additional charge of four examination boards on the eve of three important examinations in which millions of students would appear.This would provide an opportunity to internal and external mafias in these boards to throw a spanner in the works.Transparency was seen during the last two years in the examination system in several boards primarily in the Peshawar board. The Joint Academic Committee of all the boards has been made operational and effective. Cross-validation of paper-checking and results is carried out on a regular basis and corrective measures are adopted.But now this decision would affect the process of transparency, fairplay and effectiveness of the educational boards as it is humanly impossible for one person, who too is new in the department to deal with all the matters of the education department and run the affairs of the four boards at the same time.Some reports suggested that there has been a tug-of-war among various powerful circles over the appointment of board chairmen. The officers of Provincial Management Service have been lobbying to get their colleagues appointed as chairmen of various boards as they have already managed to appoint one of the officers of their cadre Hameedullah Shah as chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dera Ismail Khan.A lobby of former chairmen of various boards has also been active to get the prized offices for another term.Another lobby is that of the private school systems, some of which are owned and run by important functionaries in the federal and provincial governments as they also want to have persons of their choice appointed as chairmen of different boards.

from The News International - Peshawar http://bit.ly/2UuhLIh