By Ayesha Saba

The Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) has brought 1,641 private educational institutions under its regulatory framework after introducing a fully paperless online registration and renewal system, marking a major step towards digitising the regulation of private schools in the federal capital.

According to an official document available with Wealth Pakistan, as effective from March, 2026, the registered private schools are spread across all major sectors of Islamabad, with Nilore accounting for the highest number of institutions at 459, followed by Tarnol (372), Urban Areas (311), Sihala (265) and Bhara Kahu (234).

The level-wise distribution indicates that middle schools constitute the largest segment, with 546 institutions, followed by secondary schools (416), primary schools (396) and higher secondary schools (283). The regulatory authority also oversees an enrolment of 434,059 students across registered private schools. Of these, 175,205 students are enrolled at the primary level, 112,676 at pre-primary, 75,930 at middle, 33,550 at secondary, 18,340 at higher secondary and 18,358 at O/A level institutions.

The data further show that registered schools have 231,890 boys and 202,169 girls, reflecting broad participation across the education system.

To strengthen compliance, ICT-PEIRA has constituted inspection teams that conduct inspections of eight to 10 private schools daily. The inspections cover physical infrastructure, classroom facilities, teachers' qualifications, libraries and laboratory facilities to ensure adherence to prescribed standards.

The authority has expanded its regulatory outreach by bringing previously unregistered private schools in Islamabad's suburban areas into the regulatory framework through public notices issued in both print and electronic media, followed by individual notices.

In another institutional reform, ICT-PEIRA has established a dedicated Monitoring and Compliance Section to oversee adherence to regulatory requirements and improve enforcement across private educational institutions.

The latest measures reflect the authority's efforts to modernise regulation through digital governance while strengthening oversight of private schools to improve transparency, compliance and service delivery in Islamabad's education sector.

Credit: INP-WealthPk