Road to development: Education is the backbone of society, says Dahar

According to him, many donors providing funds for betterment of education in Sindh

SUKKUR: Education is the backbone of society as poor standards of education can cripple the society, said Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar.

He was chairing a meeting in the district council hall of Mirpur Mathelo on Sunday. Ghotki deputy commissioner Aijaz Ali Shah, assistant commissioners, officers of education department and chairmen and members of union councils attended the meeting.

According to Dahar, education plays a vital role in the development of a nation. He said that many donors across the world are providing funds to the Sindh government for the betterment of the education sector. He urged upon the district administration and elected representatives to put in their due efforts for the uplift of the education sector, stressing that education alone is the key to success. He said that the Sindh government has divided the education department into two departments - one to look after college education and the other for school education.



Gone are the days when teachers were recruited on political basis and now the Sindh government has recruited teachers on pure merit, said Dahar. "Sorry to say that even today, I receive reports about teachers not taking interest in imparting education," he lamented. "Therefore, I request the teachers to take keen interest in educating children as they are our future." The purpose of education emergency is to better the infrastructure of education through repair and maintenance and reopening of the closed schools, he said, adding that efforts are underway to overcome the shortage of teachers. He admitted that even today, 51% children are still out of schools. "We all have to make all out efforts to bring them to school," he said. He urged upon the officers to visit schools regularly and submit report to him every week.

Talking to the minister, many members of the union councils complained that the condition of schools is very poor. There are many schools where students want to seek education but the teachers are not ready to go there, they said, adding that in other schools, a large number of teachers are available for a very few students. Similarly, they said, many teachers, who have been recruited on political basis or through political support, seldom attend the schools and are drawing salaries while sitting at homes. They complained that similar is the position in the third biggest city of Sindh, Sukkur, where many teachers have been posted in schools while the number of students is negligible. Most of the officers in the education department are using political umbrella and, instead of performing their duties, are either sitting at homes or doing some side business, they alleged, adding that many ghost teachers are enjoying full support of the education officers, who receive half of their salaries for providing shelter to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2016.