PHC directs KP govt to release Rs78m to PPS&C

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to release Rs78 million to the Peshawar Public School and College (PPS&C) within fortnight.

The bench also summoned the secretary Finance and directed him to submit a report about the court’s directives and the subsequent implementation by the next hearing.A two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah heard the writ petition filed by the school’s employees. Advocate Nauman Mohib Kakakhel appeared for the petitioners while the secretary Finance, Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education and the special secretary were also present in the court.

The lawyer pleaded that the PPS&C was facing financial difficulties. The boys and girls’ sections of the school had been merged, which aggravated the problems. He said that previously, the boys and girls’ sections were separate. The lack of appropriate funding for the school had been causing these issues.

Justice SM Attique Shah inquired, “Peshawar Public School was a very good institution, what happened to it? Why has the condition of the school become so pathetic?”In response, Special Secretary of Education Qaiser Alam explained that financial problems arose due to low enrollment. The school has a capacity of 6,000 students but currently only 2,000 students are enrolled.

He said that the school’s affairs were being managed by the Board of Governors (BoG), and a committee had been formed to address the issue.The special secretary added that the school was facing a monthly loss of Rs8.1 million.

Upon this, the petitioners’ lawyer informed the court that the BoG had requested Rs80 million, but the government had only released Rs20 million.The deputy secretary told the court that the requested funds would be released after the cabinet’s approval.Later, the court ordered the provincial government to release Rs78 million for the PPS&C and also sought a report by February 11.