Private schools inflated fees | Ghinwa Bhutto academic name

Private schools warned over inflated admission fees
Karachi, Feb 26: The directorate of private educational institutions has warned all registered private schools across the province not to charge exorbitant admission fees, annual charges and donations from admission seekers.

The private schools have also been asked to complete the ongoing admission process and announce annual results of their students by March 31 so that the next academic session may commence on April 1.

The directives had been communicated to the management of all registered private schools and any deviation on their part would be considered a violation of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulations & Control) Ordinance-2001 and would be dealt with accordingly, said a senior official of provincial directorate of private educational institutions on Wednesday.

The official on condition of anonymity said that in fact it was mandatory upon all registered schools to furnish the admission policy to the provincial directorate of private educational institutions prior to the commencement of the new academic year.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that some private schools were charging thousands of rupees under the head of registration and admission fees in violation of the rules that authorised private school to charge admission fees equal to total tuition fees of three months of a student, the official said the directorate was seeking reports on such violations. He said the directorate would not only initiate action against schools found guilty of defying the rules but would also help retrieving the extra amount they charged from parents.

Quoting the provisions of a notification issued by Sindh education department on Sept 20, 2005, he said that sub-section 7 of rule 7 of the notification states: "The institute shall ensure that admission fee is charged from the student only at the time of his first admission into the institution, which shall not be more than three months tuition fees of the respective class in which the student is admitted."

He said under the terms and condition of schools registration act it was mandatory upon a registered school not to demand donations from its students, voluntary or otherwise, for any development. In this regard, he mentioned that any fees other than tuition fees could be charged only after approval from the registration authority subject to the condition that no fees, charges or voluntary donation would be charged by the institute on account of any development activity, under sub-section 4 of rule 7 of the notification.

Meanwhile, the directorate of private institutions warned the management of private schools not to stop any student from appearing in their annual examinations if they failed to deposit their tuition fees of the summer vacation (i.e. for June and July) in advance. Dawn

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No sign of name change on academic certificates for Ghinwa Bhutto
Karachi: The widow of late Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Ghinwa Bhutto, has failed to receive a court decree that will allow her to change her surname on her intermediate certificate and her Bachelor's degree.

Ghinwa filed the application on August 30, 2007 and submitted all documents (including the Mir Murtaza Bhutto's death certificate and her marriage certificate) required for verification. However, the decree from senior Civil Judge Qazi Shah Mohammed Azher has yet to be received by her.

The daughter of a Lebanese father, Aboud Etawi, Pakistani national Ghinwa was born on June 1, 1962 and was married to late Mir Murtaza Bhutto - son of former Prime Minister late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto – on March 21, 1989 in Damascus. Subsequently, her marriage was registered in Larkana on December 30, 1989. Ghinwa submitted an equivalence certificate to the matric board and appeared for her intermediate exam (roll number 618819) privately in 2005. She also got a National Identity Card from Larkana (42000 3570 463-4). However, the intermediate certificate she received after graduation bore her father's name (as her surname).

Ghinwa then filed an application with the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), requesting that her surname be changed to Bhutto since she is the widow of late Mir Murtaza Bhutto. However, the board rejected her application. Thus, Ghinwa filed an application in court, asking for the name change.

In the mean time, Ghinwa continued to study. She did her Bachelor's from Punjab University (roll number 086604) with the same name in 2007. In her application to the court, she said that her name is mentioned as Ghinwa Etawi, daughter of Aboud Etawi, even though she was married to the late Murtaza Bhutto.

The court, in its last hearing, put a preliminary objection, stating that suit number 705/2007 is barred U/S 42 as per the Specific Relief Act. Thus, the suit has been barred under the BIEK by-laws. According to the evidence presented in court, Ghinwa mentioned her name as well as her father's name in all examination forms. This indicates that there is no mistake on part of the BIEK as well as the University of Punjab.

Not only this, but the court also said that when Ghinwa received her mark sheets, she did not raise any objections. It is only after a lapse of two years that she decided to get her name changed. Thus, there appears to be no reasonable ground for the name change, stated the court.

It must be mentioned here that Ghinwa Bhutto did her Intermediate and Bachelor's at a time when it was declared mandatory for all political candidates to be graduates in order to contest the elections.

The next date of hearing was fixed for February 28, 2008 but interestingly enough, on February 17, 2008 (an earlier date for hearing), Ghinwa failed to appear in court for the evidence statement. The News

Principal's transfer opposed
Karachi: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association on Tuesday criticised the transfer of Islamia Govt Science College principal, saying that the decision amounted to a conspiracy against the institution particularly when a case of the college building was in court.

Additional secretary of the SPLA Prof Iftikhar Azami expressed his concern over the transfer of Prof Abdul Mubin Khan, who was keenly pursuing the college building case to help save the future of over 17,000 students, to the provincial education and literacy department. He urged the authorities concerned to immediately withdraw the transfer orders in the interest of college students.

He described the move as "illogical" and said the SPLA would launch a protest drive against it if the transfer orders were not withdrawn immediately.

Exam forms
Hyderabad: The University of Sindh announced that last date for submission of examination forms for LLB Part-I, II and III by fresh and failure candidates of affiliated law colleges without late fee is March 27 and with late fee of Rs700 March 28. Dawn

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