Islamabad:Despite the time for admissions in various classes is just around the corner, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is yet to finalise its admission policy after the change in the nomenclature of federal government academic institutions to Islamabad model education institutions.
According to information, the FDE has issued a detailed notification No F.4-263/11(Dev) dated February 17th, 2011, regarding the uniformity of education of all educational institutions of ICT under administrative control of FDE, but it has failed to reveal the admission policy to be followed after the change in the nomenclature.
The admission policy of federal government schools and model schools is altogether different. With the uniformity in education system, all schools have been given the name of model schools however, the admission policy is yet to be finalised despite the fact that the admissions in various classes would start from April 1.

The notification, which has been issued by FDE only includes the names of 418 education institutions that have been given the status of model institutions. However, the list which attached to the notification could also create ambiguity in future as it doesn’t categorise them into two groups i.e. Islamabad Model Schools for Boys/ Girls (Class I-IV, I-VIII or VI-X) and Islamabad Model College for Boys/Girls (Classes XI-XII, XI-XIV or XI-XVI).

According to experts, the absence of categorisation would create problem in running the administrative affairs of the institutions in the future. “There should be a categorisation of education institutions so that there should be a clarity, as to who is looking after what institutions,” said Federal Government Teachers’ Association (FGTA) President Azhar Mahmood Awan.

The change in nomenclature doesn’t only include the change of name but also change in admission policy, change in fee structure, change in syllabus and change in funds structure. “We are extremely worried as to why the admission policy has not been revealed till now. The new academic session is about to start and we are not sure of the policy,” said Awan.

According to information, there was quite a difference between the fee structures of education institutions where federal government education institutions were charging only Rs30 per month while Model education institutions were charging Rs450 per month.

“We don’t want a substantial increase in the fee as we are aware of the monetary situation of our people. What we want is slight increase in our fee structure and decrease in model schools fee structure,” he added.

The other important thing that needs to be finalised before the commencement of new academic year is the unification of syllabus. What has been proposed by FGTA is the gradual unification of syllabus and medium initially at Class I and VI w.e.f. April 1, 2011 so that the whole system could be unified in phases.

Similarly the distribution of funds is also a question mark. Previously model education institutions were getting much more funds than federal government education institutions. “You can guess the disparity from here. They were charging more fees and getting more funds. In contrast with that federal government schools were charging minimal fee and fewer funds,” said Awan.

Talking to ‘The News’ FDE Director General Shaheen Khan said that the directorate was working extensively to finalise the policy. “We are hopeful that the admission policy for the new academic year world be announced in a day or two,” she said.The news