Education and Professional Training Minister Shafqat Mahmood gave directions to the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to make sure that the 30,000 students who are out-of-school in Islamabad are brought back.
According to a local media report, Mahmood was visiting the FDE that looks after 423 educational institutes in order to get a briefing about the education sector.
The minister was briefed about the functioning and challenges faced by the FDE as it has been without a director since October 10 when temporary DG Hasnat Qureshi relinquished his charge.
Qureshi was the chairman of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) and looked after FDE affairs as an acting DG for over a year and a half.
Moreover, Mahmood stated that “the government had a vision for bringing 25 million out of school children into schools and that the 30,000 children in Islamabad should be enrolled in schools on a priority basis”.
The minister said, “Adult education will also be focused on and that double shifts should be started in areas which are short on schools.”
The minister was also briefed on the Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme which was started by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mahmood, who also visited PEIRA was briefed about the functioning and issues being faced by the authority.
He was told about litigations between PEIRA and elite schools which had challenged its rules which bars them from charging fees above the set limits.
The minister was told that “there are some 700 unregistered schools in the capital and that of the total 1,242 schools of which the authority has data, 525 have valid registration”.