Public school fiasco: Speech impaired teacher, facility deprived students

Khairpur school truly reflects what ails Sindh’s public sector institutes

ISLAMABAD:  

 

 

It is no secret that educational institutes under Sindh’s public sector are in abysmal conditions. Plagued by issues such as ghost schools, lack of facilities and a proper teaching staff, the Sindh Education Department has often come under scrutiny in the national media.

This time is no different, where due to a lack of teachers in the Khairpur district a hearing and speech impaired man is running an entire school. The school, located in the Taluqa Thari area of the Sangar Shar village, was previously run with the help of another teacher, who retired six months ago.

Since then this school, ironically fitted with a biometric registration system for teacher attendance, has only one person using the facility – Qadir Bux Khaskheli. He not only handles managerial work for the school but also teaches students whatever he can, despite him not being able to hear or speak properly.

Ghost schools still haunt Sindh education sector

The villagers have already become apprehensive of Khaskheli’s ability to teach children. Many of them have pulled their children out of the school and some of those students have been relocated to other schools in the vicinity. Some of the parents are of the opinion that the government should intervene and give Khaskheli a proper medical examination and then to retire him if necessary.

One such concerned resident, Abid Hussain, takes it upon himself to highlight issues of the education system in the district. He clarified that Khaskheli may not be hearing impaired but suffers from a speech impairment. Hussain further informed The Express Tribune that although people of the area believe that he was born with his impairments, Khaskheli’s family insists that they are the result of a paralysis attack he suffered six years ago.

Hussain added that before the other teacher retired, the school catered to an adequate number of students, both boys and girls. “However, now there are only two dozen students or so left in the school,” he said.

He went on to say that this was not the only government school that was in dire need of a rescue. There are schools that have a dozen teachers registered but no students to teach, while there are others that have many students enrolled but no teachers. He concluded that the managerial issues faced by public schools will only be addressed if authorities concerned intervene.