ISLAMABAD: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on Friday withdrew its notification of merging model schools with Federal Government (FG) schools and colleges.

The FDE runs two parallel education systems in the federal capital, which are the FG setup and model colleges and schools.

In May this year, the directorate had decided to merge eight FG and model institutions, arguing that the measure was being taken to ease the burden of admissions in overcrowded model colleges.

Realising that the step may not be a feasible one, the FDE did not go ahead with the merger of junior model schools I-19 and I-10 with the model colleges nearest to them but went ahead with the merger of junior models G-6 and F-6 with model institutions.

After they came back from summer vacations, teachers of the FG setup strongly opposed the move, claiming that the model setup administration had misguided Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry about the status of junior model schools which, they said, were in fact producing excellent results and have a significant strength of students. They claimed that the model setup had wrongly shown FG schools as under-utilised.

Teachers from the FG setup did not welcome teachers sent to them from the model setup and the conflict between them had an impact on the performance of both schools.

FG teachers then met with the CADD minister and said that though they have a limited budget and resources, FG schools were producing better results than model institutions. They requested the minister that instead of merging FG schools with that of the model setup, all educational institutions working under the FDE be given equal funds and facilities.

Convinced by the arguments put forward by the Federal Government Teacher Association (F HTA), the minister ordered the FDE to withdraw its notification for merging the schools.

In the notification issued on Friday, available with Dawn, the FDE has withdrawn two of its earlier notifications for merging FG Junior Model Schools in G-6 with the Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB) G-6 and Junior Model F-6 with IMCG F-6.

The minister has ordered for these two schools in question to play the role of `feeder` schools to the nearest model insitutions and that after they are done with primary education, the students of these FG schools will be given admission in model colleges on a priority basis.

On average, an FG schools receives a budget of Rs40 million each year while model schools and colleges receive Rs200 million per year and FG institutes therefore do not have the facilities that model institutions do.

Under the prime minister`s education reform package, the Ministry of CADD has been working on providing required facilities to the FG system as well and the ministry recently placed an order for purchasing 70 buses for these schools.

`We are thankful to the CADD minister for listening to our grievances and asking the FDE to withdraw its notification,` said FGCTA president Malik Ameer Khan.