The state of education across the country is far from satisfactory.
The Sindh education department plans to shut down over 1,100 government primary schools across the province because they are “non-viable” is cause for concern.
It needs to be ascertained what has made these schools “non-viable”: is it that successive governments have neglected education, or are other factors responsible? The Sindh education minister claims advertisements were published in newspapers listing the schools and seeking the objections of stakeholders.
But as Dawn’s report correctly pointed out, the ad says nothing about inviting objections; it is simply a massive, ambiguous list enumerating the details of the schools. The minister said the ad was published so that “non-viable” schools could be removed from the education department’s record and their buildings used for “some better purpose”.
The government must make it clear what this “better purpose” is, which necessitates the closure of such a large number of schools.
It would be understandable if the government were holding an administrative exercise, for instance short-listing schools located in the same compound that have been merged but that still exist as separate entities on government rolls.
It would be understandable if the government were holding an administrative exercise, for instance short-listing schools located in the same compound that have been merged but that still exist as separate entities on government rolls.
But it would be inexcusable if the government has made plans to shut down the schools without having a coherent strategy in place to improve academic standards. Nationalisation — though perhaps well-intentioned — has proved an ill-judged move and the prime minister’s recent comments appear to have restarted the debate on its effects on Pakistan’s system of education.
Yet that does not allow the government to abdicate its responsibility of providing quality education to the people.
The state of education across the country is far from satisfactory. In Sindh’s context, especially with the 18th Amendment making education a provincial subject, it must be asked whether the move to close down so many schools will improve the situation — or make it worse. In fact, the state needs to improve the quality of education offered in public-sector institutions and apply innovative techniques to do so.
Some NGOs have done commendable work in bringing quality education to the underprivileged. Perhaps the state can combine forces with such organisations to help improve the public school system.
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