ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Acting Chairman Syed Naveed Qamar, on Thursday expressed deep dissatisfaction over the state of public education in the capital, calling current strategies a “failed policy” that requires an immediate overhaul.
During a review of the Ministry of Education’s audit objections for the fiscal year 2024-25, the committee sharply questioned why the number of out-of-school children in Islamabad has risen consistently since 2014.
In defence, the Secretary of Education revealed that only seven new schools have been built in the capital over the last decade, attributing the stagnation to the Ministry of Planning’s continuous refusal to release development budgets.
The justification drew strong ire from the committee chair. “This means education is simply not a priority,” remarked Syed Naveed Qamar, suggesting that if infrastructure budget cuts are necessary, they should hit other sectors instead. “What is the point of building roads if we are not investing in human capital? Failing to scale schools alongside population growth is entirely unacceptable.”
Committee member Amin-ul-Haque went further, calling out the ministry’s subordinate departments for sheer incompetence given the irony of high admission demands coexisting with spiking numbers of out-of-school children. Lawmaker Shahida Akhtar Ali also highlighted the disconnect, noting that while private housing societies are booming across Islamabad, civic planning for schools remains nonexistent.
The committee also addressed administrative bottlenecks, including an unsustainable reliance on daily-wage teachers. The Auditor General noted that job insecurity drastically diminishes teaching quality, asking how educators can perform effectively when they do not know if they will have a job the following day.
In response to demands for immediate reform, the Secretary of Education requested a two-month window to draft a comprehensive, modern education policy. Qamar directed that this policy must bypass standard Capital Development Authority (CDA) hurdles, pivot toward public-private partnerships, and go straight to the Federal Cabinet for funding approval.
Financial Discrepancies Under Scrutiny
In a separate agenda item, the PAC scrutinized a PKR 18.1 million financial irregularity involving the former chairperson of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA).
While ministry officials confirmed that PKR 1 million has been recovered from the individual—who has since been transferred to another ministry—the committee expressed disbelief that the recovery process was being handled solely through a “verbal agreement.” Chairman Qamar reprimanded the officials and ordered the immediate establishment of a formal, legal mechanism to recover the outstanding balance.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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