Government projects: CM reviews education policy and reform programme

The 5-E plan had been initiated to increase the literacy ratio in Sindh.


December 09, 2011

KARACHI: The current government is trying to bring education to every nook and corner of the province, said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at a meeting with the Sindh Education Department to review the Sindh Education Reform Programme.

"The education sector is very essential for the development, progress and prosperity of any nation."

While speaking at Chief Minister House on Thursday, he said that under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) manifesto, the 5-E plan had been initiated to increase literacy in Sindh. He added that teachers, parents, students, non-government organisations should step up and help bring about a change by adopting new teaching and learning methods.

Sindh Education Secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon gave a presentation on the International Development Agency's (IDA) terms and sustainability of educational reforms. He said that out of the $350 million given by the IDA , $325 million were released and the remaining amount would be released soon. He added that the European Union grant had a target amount of €33 million out of which €25.5 million had been released and the remaining would be released soon.

According to Memon, the PPP government had recruited 13,800 teachers who had also been tested by two of the leading universities in the country. He said that another 14,000 teachers would be recruited soon. He added that a total amount of Rs100 million was being provided to every district in Sindh while 650 shelter-less schools without would be accommodated in the fourth phase of the project and will be provided with 2,600 classrooms.

Memon claimed that school management committees were given Rs1.1 billion every year while 4.7 million sets of text books were distributed among the students of class I to class XII for free. "New textbooks are being printed and the curriculum is being reviewed," he said. "Some female students get an annual stipend of Rs2,400 and others get Rs3,600 depending on if they attend private or government schools." He added that so far 331,000 students had benefitted in 2008 and 410,000 students had benefitted from the scheme in 2010.

Memon said that 450 low cost private schools were being provided with a subsidy based on the PPP education model ie Rs450 per girl and Rs350 per boy. While talking about how teachers training and education, Memon said that the Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority (STEDA) would teach the required courses. He said that according to the Education Management Refers, cluster based school management and monitoring has been extended from three to 14 tehsils. Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that the school consolidation policy was launched to merge nearby schools into campus based schools. According to the minister, one million children who had not attended school before would be taught while the enrolment of 0.9 million students in secondary schools would be doubled to 1.8 million.  Haq said that gender equity at primary and secondary levels would be improved through strong monitoring and an evaluation framework. He said that there was expected annual expenditure of nine billion rupees each year.

Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri and Sindh Finance Secretary were also there.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2011.

 

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