HYDERABAD: Divisional president of the Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association (PPSCA), Saeed Mohabbat Ali Qureshi, has condemned what he termed blatant corruption, inefficiency and oppressive tactics employed by the officials in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Hyderabad against private institutions.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, he said it was unacceptable to see that BISE had turned private schools into a revenue-generating hub while failing to address its own incompetence and corruption. He added that the board’s portal and software had been non-functional for a prolonged period, therefore it could not be accessed for any information, enrollment, fee submission etc.

Mr Qureshi alleged that BISE officials were directly responsible for delaying issuance of affiliation certificates and NOCs to the private schools. Those deliberate delays, he said, forced institutions to miss deadlines, after which board imposed exorbitant late fees.

That calculated negligence, he said, left private educational institutions unable to fulfill their obligations.

He also said that the students of government schools were exempted from fees entirely, showing a clear bias and unjust reliance on private schools for board’s financial stability.

He maintained that it was not a mere administrative failure but a deliberate act of extortion against the private schools. He asked why private schools should be penalised for the incompetence and corruption of board’s officials.

He said BISE’s corruption run even deeper and reports indicated massive financial mismanagement in the procurement of its flawed software system which was the cause of recurring access failures. That deliberate act of corruption had not only wasted public resources, but placed undue stress on private schools, students and their families.

He urged the Sindh chief minister and minister for the universities & boards to launch an independent inquiry into the corrupt practices of BISE officials. People responsible for that financial fraud and mismanagement must be held accountable without any delay. “We demand a full audit of the portal purchase and board’s financial dealings,” he said.

He threatened to stage massive protests, along with students and private institutions, in front of the BISE office if immediate action was not taken in that regard.

He said the association would no longer tolerate that exploitation and corruption. The PPSCA stood united against that injustice and demanded accountability of the board officials, he said.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2024