‘Underprivileged have right to 10% seats in private schools for free’

Education minister says notices issued to all private institutions to follow govt orders

KARACHI:

Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah has said that all the private educational institutions are bound to provide free education to at least 10 per cent of total seats to deserving children. Notices in this regard have been sent to all the schools to implement these orders.

Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that some schools have implemented this order, while some have not yet. Strict action will be taken against those who are not following these orders.

The minister mentioned that complaints have also been received that most of the private school teachers are being paid only Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 as monthly wages, while the Sindh government has set Rs25,000 as minimum salary.

He said the Sindh government will force the private schools to ensure payment of a minimum salary of Rs25,000 to each teacher.

At the same time, the government is working on transgender policy which will be announced soon.

Shah further said that there is a dire need to upgrade primary schools. This is the problem across the country that children cannot continue their education after primary school due to lack of schooling. Elementary schools will be opened instead of primary schools to improve the education system across Sindh.

He mentioned, there are 35,000 primary schools while there are only 3,500 elementary and high schools in Sindh. This raises the issue that where 35,000 students will go after completing their primary education. In this regard, an upgradation policy has been approved and its implementation has started, he said.

Shah mentioned that the government is paying special attention to the education and training of transgender people. For the first time in the province, the policy of giving basic rights to transgenders will be introduced so that they can have equal rights and become useful citizens in society.

In order to promote the education of female students, the minister said that a strategy has been formulated through private partnership to provide travel facilities to female students in Sindh. A shuttle service will be run for the female students from the educational institutions to their home towns covering a distance of 30 kilometers so that the female students do not face any problem in commuting.

Sardar Shah said that according to a survey, 12,000 schools have been partially damaged while 7,500 schools have been completely destroyed due to the rains and floods in the province.

Education of 2.3 million children has been affected due to floods, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2023.