Not just Islamabad but two other
entities – Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan – also have been badly affected by
the devolution as they don’t have the status of a province,” remarked a
bureaucrat to Dawn.
“In the past, the Ministry of Education used to look after all the departments and institutions of education. But politicians have split those departments and there is no centralised control anymore,” a college professor told Dawn, requesting anonymity.
“Now the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is responsible for
education, working under the Capital Administration and Development
Division (CADD), but the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary
Education (FBISE) conducts the exams and is under the control of the
newly-created Ministry of Professional and Technical Training,” he said.
More than 200,000 students and 30,000 employees of the institutions and the departments have to suffer the consequences of
the muddled implementation of the devolution plan.
“Not just Islamabad but two other entities – Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan – also have been badly affected by the devolution as they don’t have the status of a province,” remarked a bureaucrat to Dawn.
“Devolved departments can be shifted from one federal ministry to another only through legislation,” he pointed out.
CADD was created by the commission appointed to implement the devolution plan to handle the functions of the abolished federal ministries in the federal capital territory. But it has been rendered ineffective by “political interference and shifting of
departments from one authority to another,” according to sources in the bureaucracy.
“Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani once declared Islamabad’s federal education as a model for others but today it lies completely destroyed,” rued the professor. “It can be revived only by putting all departments under one administrative authority. That is also what the Implementation Commission had made mandatory,” he said, reeling off a number of bodies created to manage education.
“The National Educational Assessment System (NEAS) was devised to ensure quality education through improvement, revision of curricula, textbooks, teachers’ training, examinations and policy formation; the National Institute of Science and Technical
Education (NISTE) was formed for training science teachers; the National Book Foundation was to publish books for the educational institutions of the federal capital but is proposed to be put under Cabinet Division. FBISE, NEAS and other departments which were under CADD have been either transferred or proposed to be transferred to the Ministry of Professional and Technical Training without any justification.
The Federal College of Education H-9 has been handed over to the same ministry,” he said.
Educationists and bureaucrats fear that with the passage of time multiple control centres would create crises for the education system in the federal capital.
Educational departments have been put under different ministries while CADD, created to deal exclusively with Islamabad affairs, is under the prime minister who cannot be expected to give it proper attention because of his preoccupations with national affairs. Who will listen to CADD in such a situation?
“All departments should be put under one umbrella. Only that way things can be managed and public grievances addressed.
Consider Islamabad as a small province,” pleaded the educationists and administrators of the city.
Joint Secretary CADD Rafique Tahir agreed that disconcerted orders were not good for educational institutions. They should be working under one umbrella, he said.
“Too many bosses hamper interaction between the departments. All should be put under one ministry to bring sanity to the system,” said the spokesman of Federal Government College Teachers Association, Tahir Mehmood.
“Similarly scattered educational bodies should be consolidated.
That will increase efficiency and coordination,” he said.
Courtesy: http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/29/education-suffers-too-many-bosses.html
No comments:
Post a Comment