KARACHI – Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad is seemingly intent on retaining control over secondary and intermediate education boards of the province, with an amendment to the to Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance-1972 returned to the Sindh Assembly (SA) for reconsideration.
The governor’s message was present before the SA session on Monday, with Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro requesting Acting Speaker Shehla Raza to defer the matter till the next session. The appeal was subsequently granted.
Sindh is the only province in which the intermediate and secondary education boards work under the governor; in all other provinces, the respective chief ministers are responsible for these. The SA had passed a bill on August 13, 2008 seeking the two boards’ control for the chief minister, but the governor’s office kept the bill for more than two years and returned it without signing.
The governor in his reconsideration note has argued that absolute transparency, meritocracy and good governance, it is imperative for him to continue as the controlling authority of the both boards. The line of reasoning is that that educational institutions, the Bureau of Curriculum and the Sindh Textbook Board are already under the control of the Sindh government. Hence, it is imperative for institutions conducting examinations to be under the administrative control of two separate authorities.
“Accordingly, the amendment of Section 12 of Sindh Ordinance of No VI of 1972 mentioned in the bill may be omitted,” reads the request.
Another business of the house, presentation of the report of the standing committee on home on the law and order situation in the province, was also deferred after Pakistan People’s Party’s Anwer Khan Maher submitted a request. The plea was also granted on the basis of “reconciliation.”
