LAHORE: The Punjab government is creating yet another authority to design, implement and manage special initiatives in the public and private education sector, having control over the Public School Support Programme (PSSP) of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF).

The objectives of the proposed Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority also include promotion of education, specifically supporting efficient utilisation and capacity building of existing public sector f acilities and channelising ef forts of the private sector in providing education, capacity building and improved service delivery.

According to official sources on Thursday, a draft bill is being framed to be sent to the chief minister shortly for approval and submission to the assembly for adoption.

According to the draft law, the authority, based in Lahore, is proposed to have eight non-official members to be nominated by the government, including at least three women from among the nongovernmental organisations, philanthropists, technocrats, academicians, parliamentarians and public representatives. It will improve access to education to help the government address regional and gender imbalances and ensure equitable distribution of education of an acceptable quality at a reasonable cost with special focus on the areas where female education opportunities are skewed or socio-economic factors are a hurdle.

The Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority will enter into negotiations and contracts with persons and institutions in public and private sector as well as the authorities, bodies, associations, societies, corporations, institutes whether in Pakistan or abroad. It will promote and enter into public-private partnership arrangements relating to education and for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions and activities, harness capacity of the private sector for achievement of education goals set by the government.

The authority will provide incentives to students, teachers and educational institutions, rank educational institutions according to their standards, raise funds through donations, grants, contributions, subscriptions and accept grants or financial assistance from any government or organisation.

The PSSP of the PEF shall stand transferred to the Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority and shall be deemed to be established under its law.

The handover of management of low performing public schools commenced under all the phases of the PSSP shall be deemed to have been done under the new authority and all persons presently working in the PSSP shall be deemed to be its employees on the terms and conditions contained in their contracts and they shall be adjusted against positions created in the authority.-Intikhab Hanif