Islamabad -Despite the Prime Minister’s strict directions to complete education reforms project on emergency basis, upgradation work of 200 educational institutes has not been initiated so far.

Talking to The Nation, an official of the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) said the mechanism for upgradation of educational institutes has yet to be decided, although first installment of Rs01 billion has already been received by the Ministry of CCDA.

“Absence of team building for the execution of programme is a major hurdle as the team will be responsible for making the framework of implementation,” he added.

According to official, the concerned authorities are not reaching the decision that how upgradation should begin despite receiving first installment of the programme to initiate the construction work.

Rs03 billion were announced for the upgradation of model educational intuitions in the federal capital and first installment of Rs01 billion was received by the CADD last month.

According to the official, non-appointment of permanent Director General (DG) Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is also a reason behind non-implementation of the programme.

The official said that in first phase of education reforms programme, the amount would be spent on upgrading the infrastructure of 200 schools while a steering committee constituted by the premier would monitor the development projects.

The steering committee is being headed by Minister CADD Tariq Fazal Chaudhry while Islamabad mayor and Project Management Unit PERP are the members for implementation of the project, he added.

First phase of the programme includes construction of new classrooms and washrooms, establishment of libraries and laboratories, provision of furniture, construction of boundary walls and other infrastructure work.

According to details, provision of 30,000 chairs and tables along with construction of 62 washrooms in the institutes were included in the up-gradation program.

Talking to The Nation, Advisor on Prime Minister Education Reforms Programme (PERP) Ali Raza said that PC-1 of the project was approved last month and implementation will take some necessary time to complete the official procedures. “Twenty two educational institutes have been upgraded in the pilot project while the committee constituted to initiate work on 200 model institutes will also initiate its work soon,” he said.

Ali Raza said that modalities of the programme have not been decided yet to complete the framework of the programme.

According to him, appointment of a permanent DG FDE has no concern with the implementation or administration of the programme because construction work will be outsourced through tender.

An official at the FDE while talking to The Nation said that the FDE has sent the upgradation programme of remaining 200 educational institutes also to the ministry which has been forwarded to the Finance Division.

“Possibly the upgradation of all 400 educational institutes will start together instead of implementation on the reforming 200 institutes in first phase,” he said.

He also stated that implementation on the programme is also being delayed due to technical reasons. “It includes the whole process from opening of tender, biding and implementation and this will take sometime while major issue of funds releasing has been resolved,” he said.

Meanwhile, an FDE official also stated that appointment of permanent FDE DG will contribute positively in implementation of the programme as it deals with the model educational administrative set-up.

However, a senior educationist in model education set-up told The Nation said the PERP was launched in 2016 and the concerned authorities didn’t chalk out a proper plan of implementation.

“Lack of planning leads to the situation that upgradation is being delayed despite receiving the amount,” he said.

He also stated that permanent appointment against the post of DG FDE will ensure accountability of the project. “Permanent official is responsible for audit and other administrative issues of the educational institutes and he has a significant role in the implementation of the programme,” he said.