PESHAWAR: Questions have been raised over amendments made to the law regulating private educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in June 2017, with sources alleging that the changes benefited private schools owned by former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Asad Qaiser and Mushtaq Ghani.
According to the sources, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regulatory Authority Act, issued on June 9, 2017, empowered the regulatory authority to shut down or seal private schools found violating the law. The authority also had the power to close or seal unregistered schools.
However, the provincial government amended the law on June 23, 2017, removing Section 22(4), which provided for the closure or sealing of private educational institutions. Following the amendment, enforcement action was reportedly restricted to the imposition of fines instead of closure or sealing.
Sources claim that the amendment was introduced at the request of Asad Qaiser, who was then Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and other political leaders who allegedly owned private educational institutions.
The sources further allege that the change provided protection to the educational businesses associated with these leaders by limiting the regulatory authority’s powers to shut down or seal schools for violations.
The allegations raise questions about the circumstances surrounding the amendment and whether the change was intended to benefit particular private educational institutions.
However, the claims regarding the alleged motives behind the amendment have not been independently verified. No response from the politicians named in the allegations or the provincial government was included in the information available for this report.
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