Aeon
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 398
- Reaction score
- 0
Govt plans closure of 1,100 schools | DAWN
October 31, 2010 (2 days ago)
KARACHI, Oct 30: The Sindh education department is considering shutting down more than 1,100 government primary schools located in 21 districts after officially declaring them non-viable and non-feasible, it emerged on Saturday.
Responding to a query by this reporter, Sindh Senior Minister for Education and Parliamentary Affairs Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq claimed that the government had sought objections from the public and stakeholders before making a final decision about the fate of such schools through an advertisement recently published in newspapers.
However, the advertisement that declared over 1,150 government primary and lower secondary schools non-viable and non-feasible and provided their district-wise details did not invite any objections from the general public or any other stakeholder. When the ministers attention was drawn to this fact, he said he would look into the matter. If it is so then the whole exercise behind giving such advertisements must have gone in vain, he said.
In fact, the categorisation of schools as non-viable and unfeasible is based on the reports compiled by the respective executive district officers for education and the motive behind giving such an advertisement was to invite objections from the public and stakeholders so that such schools could be removed from the record of the education department and their buildings could be utilised for some better purpose, he added.
Pir Mazhar explained that past governments spent millions of rupees getting the schools established at those places where they were not required and subsequently their buildings either turned into Autaqs of feudal lords or had been lying deserted.
Asked what would be the fate of students and staff, including teachers of those schools which might be closed after getting feedback from the public and stakeholders, sources in the education department said that in such cases, students would be accommodated in the next nearest public sector schools while teachers and other staff would be merged in other schools by raising their SNEs (Sanctioned New Establishment).
Such schools are located in Karachi, Thatta, Hyderabad, Badin, Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Sanghar, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Naushero Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sukkur, Ghotki, Umerkot, Jamshoro, Matiari, Tando Allah Yar, Kashmore and Kambar-Shahdadkot.
The highest number of 162 such schools are located in Sanghar, followed by 142 in Tharparkar, 98 in Shikarpur, 81 in Thatta, 75 in Dadu, 72 in Benazirabad, 70 in Kashmore, 68 in Naushero Feroze, 64 in Khairpur, 53 in Jacobabad, 43 each in districts Mirpurkhas and Sukkur, 41 in Kambar-Shahdadkot, 37 in Umerkot, 32 in Matiari, 29 in Badin and so on.
Two such schools located in each district Karachi and Hyderabad are: Govt Boys Primary Schools (both named after Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani), Nasirabad, Federal B Area; and Govt Boys Lower Secondary School Mohammad Ali Laghari, Mosu Khatian and Govt Boys Lower Secondary School, Juman Khujejo, Tando Fazal.
However, according to the Sindh Education Monitoring and Information System (Semis) figures, the number of ghost or closed government schools in Sindh is much more than the 1,157 government schools described as non-violable and non-feasible by the education department.
Meanwhile, sources in the education department told Dawn that there were four categories of schools likely to be closed down. They included a) ghost schools, b) non- feasible schools, for they are located quite far from villages, c) nationalised schools that were de-nationalised but remained on the education departments record and d) two or more schools being run in one compound that have been merged but they separately exist on record.
October 31, 2010 (2 days ago)
KARACHI, Oct 30: The Sindh education department is considering shutting down more than 1,100 government primary schools located in 21 districts after officially declaring them non-viable and non-feasible, it emerged on Saturday.
Responding to a query by this reporter, Sindh Senior Minister for Education and Parliamentary Affairs Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq claimed that the government had sought objections from the public and stakeholders before making a final decision about the fate of such schools through an advertisement recently published in newspapers.
However, the advertisement that declared over 1,150 government primary and lower secondary schools non-viable and non-feasible and provided their district-wise details did not invite any objections from the general public or any other stakeholder. When the ministers attention was drawn to this fact, he said he would look into the matter. If it is so then the whole exercise behind giving such advertisements must have gone in vain, he said.
In fact, the categorisation of schools as non-viable and unfeasible is based on the reports compiled by the respective executive district officers for education and the motive behind giving such an advertisement was to invite objections from the public and stakeholders so that such schools could be removed from the record of the education department and their buildings could be utilised for some better purpose, he added.
Pir Mazhar explained that past governments spent millions of rupees getting the schools established at those places where they were not required and subsequently their buildings either turned into Autaqs of feudal lords or had been lying deserted.
Asked what would be the fate of students and staff, including teachers of those schools which might be closed after getting feedback from the public and stakeholders, sources in the education department said that in such cases, students would be accommodated in the next nearest public sector schools while teachers and other staff would be merged in other schools by raising their SNEs (Sanctioned New Establishment).
Such schools are located in Karachi, Thatta, Hyderabad, Badin, Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Sanghar, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Naushero Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sukkur, Ghotki, Umerkot, Jamshoro, Matiari, Tando Allah Yar, Kashmore and Kambar-Shahdadkot.
The highest number of 162 such schools are located in Sanghar, followed by 142 in Tharparkar, 98 in Shikarpur, 81 in Thatta, 75 in Dadu, 72 in Benazirabad, 70 in Kashmore, 68 in Naushero Feroze, 64 in Khairpur, 53 in Jacobabad, 43 each in districts Mirpurkhas and Sukkur, 41 in Kambar-Shahdadkot, 37 in Umerkot, 32 in Matiari, 29 in Badin and so on.
Two such schools located in each district Karachi and Hyderabad are: Govt Boys Primary Schools (both named after Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani), Nasirabad, Federal B Area; and Govt Boys Lower Secondary School Mohammad Ali Laghari, Mosu Khatian and Govt Boys Lower Secondary School, Juman Khujejo, Tando Fazal.
However, according to the Sindh Education Monitoring and Information System (Semis) figures, the number of ghost or closed government schools in Sindh is much more than the 1,157 government schools described as non-violable and non-feasible by the education department.
Meanwhile, sources in the education department told Dawn that there were four categories of schools likely to be closed down. They included a) ghost schools, b) non- feasible schools, for they are located quite far from villages, c) nationalised schools that were de-nationalised but remained on the education departments record and d) two or more schools being run in one compound that have been merged but they separately exist on record.
