Islamabad Capital Territory-Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) Get Its New Chief

Responding to the call of private schools associations and parents, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training had appointed Zia Batool as new Chairperson of the Islamabad Capital Territory-Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) for the term of next three years

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2019 ) :Responding to the call of private schools associations and parents, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training had appointed Zia Batool as new Chairperson of the Islamabad Capital Territory-Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) for the term of next three years.

According to a notification of October 23 issued by the Education Ministry on Wednesday, the appointment of Zia Batool was made on approval of the Federal Government in terms of clause 7 of the ICT-PEIRA (Registration and Regulation) Act 2013 and Rules 7 of the Islamabad Capital Territory-Private Educational Institutions Chairman and Member Academics and Member Registration (Appointment and Qualification Rules 2015.

Earlier, the education ministry had appointed deputy secretary Ayesha Khalid as acting chairperson around two months ago, taking the charge from member PEIRA Imtiaz Qureshi.

PEIRA was regulating around 2,000 private schools in the federal capital where more than 250,000 students were enrolled; while its top slot was remain vacant since 2018. After conducting interviews of nine shortlisted candidates following an advertisement, the education ministry had recommended three Names for the post of the PEIRA head.

According to the sources, a summary carrying the three names had been sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan for picking one of them as the PEIRA Chairman for three years.

They said that the summary carried the names of Punjab Higher Education Director General Zia Batool and two other officers as the authority was being run on an ad hoc basis.

PEIRA, which regulates private educational institutions of the ICT, had been without a permanent head.

The sources said that a total of 36 candidates applied for the post out of whom nine were shortlisted and then three names were finalized.

However, the Private Schools Associations and the parents residing in the federal capital welcomed the government's move to appoint a permanent head after a long period of the regulatory authority of private sector educational institutions.

They hoped that the pending issues of the private schools especially the implementation of Supreme Court orders regarding fee increase by the private schools would be ensured.

Earlier, the new Chairperson PEIRA Zia Batool was working at Punjab Higher Education Commission as Education Management, Quality Assurance, Accreditation, Standards, and Reviews for last three years.

She had wrote a book "Quality Assurance Manual for Higher Education in Pakistan" which elaborates the QA Manual for Higher Education outlines the QA policies and systems prevailing in Pakistan for universities and HEIs. It also reflects on Accreditation system at both institutional and programme level. The QA Manual for Higher Education outlines the QA policies and systems prevailing in Pakistan for universities and HEIs. It also reflects on Accreditation system at both institutional and programme level.

She had been honored with award of Global Award for Quality Assurance in Higher Education at World Quality Congress in 2014. She had also achieved the best students' award for co curricular activities in 1996 by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. She had also contributed as the Best Speaker and the Chief Editor for the said above university magazine.

She had been elected as board Member of Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN).

Zia Batool also won the title of Best Speaker twice amongst all universities of Pakistan in the Prime Minister Shield from the University Grants Commission Pakistan.