President General Pervez Musharraf will soon promulgate an ordinance to establish an authority to regulate high learning institutions in the private sector, Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi told a Senate committee here on Tuesday.
With the nomenclature of Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Promotion) Regulatory Authority, the new body would have the mandate to register, regulate and promote education in the private sector, the minister added.
"It (authority) will help (government) check the mushroom growth of private educational institutes," Qazi was quoted as telling the Senate Standing Committee on Education. Some opposition members, however, asked the government to power the establishment of such an authority through an act of the Parliament rather than a presidential order.
They also suggested the government to use muscles for keeping the fees of high learning institutions in private sector under check. There has of late been a mushroom growth of private high learning institutions in the country. The phenomenon has not only deteriorated standards but also has made quality education out of the reach of poor.
The fees of these institutions are so high that poor parents cannot even imagine choosing private colleges and universities for their children. The government approach towards this is lacklustre and it literally has no control over 'education mafia'.
Javed Ashraf also informed the committee that government had now decided to carry out a comprehensive revision of the curricula after every five years.
The curricula were previously revised on varying intervals in the wake of emerging needs in collaboration with all the stakeholders. The National Curriculum Council comprising experts in the field of science and social sciences was constituted to review and submit the draft curricula, he added.