School education dept issues complaint number

LAHORE: On the instructions of Punjab Minister for Schools, School Education Department (SED) Punjab has launched a complaint number through which people facing problems vis-à-vis implementation of 20 per cent discount in fee of private schools can register complaints with the department.

People from different walks of life have appreciated the initiative as many private schools are still reluctant to offer 20 per cent discount announced by the Chief Minister in the wake of lockdown and closure of education institutions across the province. However, on social media a number of people also complained about access issues to the number mentioned by the minister.

appointed: The Punjab government on Wednesday appointed Sarah Aslam of the Pakistan Administrative Services (BS-20) as the new Secretary of School Education Department (SED), Punjab.

Earlier, she was serving as Secretary, Labour and Human Resource Department Punjab while she also holds additional charge of the post of Secretary, Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab.

With the new incumbent at the SED Punjab, the government has changed around six administrative secretaries of the Schools Department since June 2018 and it seems as if the government has so far remained unable to find a suitable candidate for one of the challenging posts in Punjab.

It is pertinent to mention that in terms of human resource, SED Punjab is the largest department of Pakistan after Pakistan Army. With over 50,000 public schools and around 12 million students the SED Punjab has around 400,000 teachers besides supporting staff at the schools.

The department also looks after the affairs of thousands of private schools across Punjab. Abdul Jabbar Shaheen is the longest serving Secretary of the Schools Department Punjab who served as Secretary from 2013 to 2017 during the PML-N government in Punjab. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has appointed PMS Officer Muhammad Suhail Shahzad as the Special Secretary HED Punjab.