Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) MaqboolBaqar presiding over a joint meeting of school and college education departments has approved a release of Rs1 billion for the printing of textbooks and simultaneously directed the college department to develop a digital monitoring system of all the colleges to ensure lecturers attendance and teaching activities. The meeting was held at CM House on Wednesday and was attended by Minister of Education RanaHussain, Chief Secretary DrFakhreAlam, PSCM Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Finance KazimJatoi, Secretary School Education ShireenNarejo, Secretary Colleges SadafAnees, and other concerned officers.
Textbooks: Secretary School Education Ms. ShireenNarejo, to a question, told the CM that 80 percent of the students (schools) have received (free) textbooks. At this, the CM expressed his displeasure and said that it meant that 20 percent of the students were studying without textbooks which was unacceptable.
The CM was told that due to a shortage of funds books could not be printed. At this, the CM directed Secretary Finance KazimJatoi to release Rs1 billion by this evening to the school education dept so that dues of the vendor could be cleared for printing the remaining books. Colleges Education: Secretary of College Education SadafAnees briefing the CM said that she was developing a monitoring and inspection system in all the colleges. At this, the CM said that most of the college teachers were neither attending the colleges nor taking the classes.
Justice Baqar directed the Secretary Colleges to develop a digital monitoring system so that teachers’ attendance and presence in the college and involvement in the educational activities could be ensured/monitored. The interim CM said that most of the colleges did not have subject teachers, particularly in science, math, and English. “I want you [Secretary college] not to concentrate teachers of similar and arts subjects in a college but rationalize them,” he said and added that the shortage of teachers in a college must be overcome by the colleges with surplus teachers.
The interim CM directed Secretary Colleges to rationalize the teaching staff in each and every college and ensure the posting of lecturers of the required subject. Justice Baqar directed the Secretary Education to collect data on the chronically absent lecturers and forward their cases to the FIA through him so that their expulsion from the job could be ensured but recoveries of the salaries they have drawn for the absent period could be retrieved. Colleges: The CM was told that there were 369 colleges under the college education dept, of them 91 were Science colleges, 45 were arts & commerce, four IT, two each of Home Economics and physical, and 221 mix.
Apart from them, there were 11 cadet colleges and five IBA Community Colleges. It was disclosed that the total enrolment in the colleges was 588331 with 7111 teaching and 6640 non-teaching staff. Endowment Fund: The college education manages the Sindh Educational Endowment Fund through a Trust. The Sindh Educational Fund Trust awards scholarships to deserving students on merit to enable them to complete their education in higher education institutions in the fields of IT, engineering, medicine, and business administration.
