Govt schoolmasters out to bring back absentees

Records reveal enrolments to have tripled ever since teachers began their door-to-door campaign

SHAHDADKOT:

Where news of Sindh’s education system seldom carries any hope, a group of primary teachers from Shahdadkot town has decided to change that; holding high the lantern of progress to light up a rather discouraging scene. In advance of the upcoming academic year, the fourteen-men guild has assumed the duty of going door to door in pursuits of convincing the town’s parents to re-enrol their children in schools.

Many among whom had withdrawn their children from education over 1.5-years ago, with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign was first initiated in 2016 by teachers of Government Boys Primary School Sahib Khan Lashari. Back then, the group was focused on increasing access to education for out-of-school children in general, but current circumstances have pushed the team to direct their efforts towards bring back the school’s absentees.

 

“Our collective has grown manifolds over the years, including the school’s headmaster, who has become an active participant of the reenrolment drive,” said Fida Hussain Bhatti, a teacher associated with the group.

Apart from contacting parents, the team has also been working towards creating awareness via other avenues, such as distribution of pamphlets and literature as well as one-on-one interactions with religious seminary heads and announcements at local mosques. “We list down target areas and distribute copies of the document to our teachers, who dedicate their after-work hours to going on field and working on the campaign. We continue the efforts for a few days at the beginning of every academic year,” told Bhatti.

According to records, the school, largely catering to pupils from low-income groups, had an enrolment count of 120 to 146 students until 2014. After the teachers’ untiring efforts on field however, admissions have almost tripped at the Government Boys Primary School, climbing to a record 567 students.

 

As a result of their enrolment drive, Bhatti alleged that nearby schools have also started seeing an increase in student admissions. But most interestingly, it is the hordes of girls who have also started enrolling in schools, despite Sahib Khan Lashari being an all-boys facility. “We have only five classrooms and 567 children.

There is no space for students to sit inside the classes, which are crammed. In this situation, we have no other option, but to conduct some classes outside of the building under the open sky,” said Headmaster Abdullah Channa, adding that prolonged electrical disruptions make it arduous for the school to function, especially in scorching summers. The dilapidated condition of the building tells the macabre story of Sindh’s schools, which have become a structural hazard owing to lack of repair and maintenance.

Per Headmaster Channa, his school has no peons or watchmen, and teachers pool in Rs200 from their pockets every month to pay for private security to guard students, property and furniture. “Unlike other places, the school administration here takes the people in loop in affairs regarding utilisation of School Management Committee (SMC) funds and spend the same with their consent; maintaining record of every penny. However, funds are occasionally released which are barely enough to spend on school furniture and other necessities.”

 

The controversy On the other hand, a state of art school setup by Sindh Education Foundation is laying almost non-functional with a huge budget being allegedly bungled by officials and foundation school administration.

“As per government policy, Sindh Education Foundation should establish its school in less privileged areas far away from government-run facilities. But unfortunately, they have shown our government school children as enrolment in their own records, running their schools on paper but not in reality,” commented a senior educationist, on conditions of anonymity.

Speaking further, the teacher appealed to the government to take notice of the education foundation’s operations.

“We convince parents and enroll children at our government schools by devoting all efforts to provide quality education. Whereas Sindh Education Foundation schools, contract for which are awarded to local influential people, are using our hard work to justify their lack thereof” he told The Express Tribune.