Sindh Government on Wednesday submitted to Sindh High Court (SHC) that the matter of Provincial Higher Education Commission can't be referred to the Council of Common Interest (CCI) pleading that the commission has been constituted in accordance with the provisions of law and constitution. The SHC took up the hearing of petition filed by former Federal Minister Science & Technology Dr Attaur Rahman, who moved the court against establishment of Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC), which he stated that the establishment of provincial higher education commission is violation of laws and constitution.
The petitioner made the Sindh Government the respondent in this case, which submitted a detailed reply to the court on Wednesday and termed the apprehensions of the petitioner based on assumptions, which have no lawful ground to challenge the establishment of higher education commission in the province.
The respondent also rejected the contention of petitioner that the provincial government has promulgated the impugned law. The law enacted by Sindh Assembly strictly in accordance with the provisions of Clause C of Article 42 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Responding to the plea of the petitioner that the matter should have been referred to the CCI before the establishment of this commission, the Sindh Government submitted that after 18th Amendment, the concurrent list stood abolished and under the new assigned role to provinces in education, the CCI has limited role to harmonize standard of education in the country. "This limited role can't be extended to include regulation of policy and planning in the higher education institutions.
The Government of Sindh contended that it did the legislation on higher education in the province even after the Supreme Court directed Federal and Sindh governments to do the legislation on higher education and assured the court that this commission would help to improve the standard and quality of higher education in Sindh.
The respondent submitted that grounds taken by the petitioner are imaginary, misconceived with no legal basis. It prayed that the petition should be dismissed as the petitioner filed it in order to usurp the powers of provincial assembly enshrined in the constitution.
The Sindh High Court directed the petitioner's counsel to submit the reply against the submissions of Sindh Government by May 22, 2018. Security of schools Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday sought the report from the Sindh government about the security of schools in the province when it heard the petition seeking provision of adequate security to education institutions facing threats.
The SHC directed the focal person of the Sindh Government to appear before the court on May 17, 2018 to inform the court about the security plan and steps taken to provide adequate security to education institutions. The two-member bench also observed that there is need to create the awareness to sensitize the people about the security issues along with taking the administrative measures. The court also sought the recommendations from petitioner and respondent for creating this awareness.