Sindh education boards placed under split administrative control

KARACHI: The Sindh government has approved an administrative change that divides oversight of the province’s educational boards between the chief minister and the minister for universities and boards, creating what officials described as an unprecedented dual-command structure in the examination system.

The Sindh cabinet recently cleared a move under which the controlling authority over chairpersons of educational boards has been shifted to the chief minister. Earlier, that authority was fully exercised by the minister for universities and boards, who also supervised controllers of examinations, board secretaries and audit officers.

Under the new arrangement, the minister for universities and boards will continue to oversee controllers of examinations, board secretaries and audit officers, while chairpersons of all educational boards will now report directly to the chief minister. The change effectively places the boards under a split chain of command, with two levels of authority functioning at the same time.

Official minutes of the cabinet meeting and a formal notification are still awaited, but the decision has already prompted concern in administrative and academic circles. Questions are being raised over why only part of the authority was withdrawn if the provincial government had concerns about the performance of the Universities and Boards Department, while other functions remained with the same department.

Boards already facing scrutiny

The development comes as several boards in Sindh are already under controversy, particularly the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Mirpurkhas and the Board of Secondary Education Karachi.

The controller of examinations of the Mirpurkhas board is currently in the custody of the Anti-Corruption Establishment over allegations related to tampering with examination results and other irregularities. Following disclosures attributed to him, the ACE has reportedly sent communications naming officials from the boards as well as the Universities and Boards Department in alleged financial wrongdoing.

"These include claims of Rs200 million being transferred to the department in the form of "gifts."

Some officials have also obtained protective bail from courts.

Meanwhile, the Karachi secondary education board has faced strong criticism after widespread reports of administrative failures during the recent matriculation examinations. An inquiry committee has reportedly confirmed irregularities in the allocation of examination centres and in the shifting of more than 100 centres during the ongoing examination process.

The committee termed those actions unjustified and recommended the removal of both the chairman and the controller of examinations. Following the report, the chairman of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi resigned.

The provincial government is now considering appointing a serving bureaucrat to run the board’s affairs on a temporary basis until a final decision is made.

The cabinet’s latest decision has added a new layer to an already sensitive situation in Sindh’s examination administration, where questions over governance and accountability are being raised alongside ongoing inquiries into alleged irregularities.