KARACHI: Sindh Education and Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah has said that all the schools which were closed due to lack of teachers will reopen from August 1. About 50,000 teachers have been recruited purely on merit. He expressed these views while addressing the budget session in the Sindh Assembly today.
He said that the supply of furniture to about one million children would have been completed before August 1.
He said that a total of 56056 teachers including 38699 PSTs and 17355 JESTs are being recruited. Out of which more than 46 thousand teachers have been recruited on full merit through IBA through a single testing process in the history of the country. Induction training is being conducted for the newly recruited teachers. In addition, 1200 Subject Specialists (Internees) and 750 Music Teachers and 750 Art Teachers are being recruited.
He added that the number of out-of-school children is not authoritative, not as large as the number of out-of-school children reported by NGOs in our province. There are one crore 20-30 lakh total children, out of which 40-45 lakh children are studying, and also in safe schools, madrassas and other schooling systems.
Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah further said that upgrading of schools in school infrastructure is most important. In this regard, upgrade of 600 schools under SELECT project, upgradation of 305 schools under ADP, -20 under ASPIRE. A total of 1085 schools are being upgraded, including upgrading of schools, SSIEP-160 schools.
He said that for the first time, five science museums would be set up in Sukkur, Benazirabad, Larkana, Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas districts of Sindh. He said that under the school clustering policy, 1860 clusters and 6000 sub-clusters would be formed in which 60 clusters have been started as a pilot project.
In addition, the Department of Education’s training institutes STEDA, PITE and TTIs are being restructured for professional training of teachers. Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that unfortunately the only profession is teaching which does not have a license.
Discussions were held with the British Council, Board of England, Aga Khan University and other institutions on teacher licensing and only then has the policy been formulated. Only the educational qualifications of the teachers can change the face of the society.
Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that Khwaja Izhar Sahib called private schools mafia but I cannot give them the title of mafia because even there our own children are getting education. He said that the law of private schools is a people friendly law which provides free education to libraries, laboratories, playgrounds and even ten percent poor children. Private schools have to teach both Sindhi and Urdu but many private schools do not. For the first time, we are conducting a census of private schools for the implementation of this Language Act and I will present all these figures to the Assembly.
Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that all the assembly members should wool only one school, 168 schools can be fine, just don’t criticize, let’s wool schools. There is a stakeholder in the whole education system but the child is missing because no one ever paid attention to it.
“I invite all the members to give me a chance to talk in detail about education for a whole day. All the members are ready to brief me on their concerns as well as the options available,” he said.
