Ministry officer posted as acting PEIRA chief

Islamabad : Continuing with its policy of ad hocism, the ministry of federal education and professional training has tasked one of its officers with temporarily holding the top office of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) in addition to own work after removing the acting head.

Joint secretary Ayesha Khalid, who will have the 'look after' charge of the PEIRA chairman's office, has succeeded Imtiaz Qureshi, who is basically a PEIRA member.

The officials claimed that the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority , which regulated around 1,100 private schools and colleges in the capital city, would get a permanent chairman soon after the recent approval of the handsome MP-II salary and fringe benefit package for the post.

They said the ministry would advertise the position to attract competent candidates from the private sector.

The self-financing PEIRA has seen the change of guard many times during the last six years but even then, it has failed to deliver the goods for being without a permanent top boss.

The last permanent PEIRA chief was Atif Mehmood Kayani, who had abandoned the office in June 2013 after he came in for strong criticism from the Supreme Court over a mere 14 years education, including a bachelor’s degree with very low grades.