‘Education emergency’ haunts govt
Children attend class at a school where one of the buildings was rented out by the contractor. Photo: Safdar Rizvi/express
Opposition lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday lambasted the education department over the failure of its "education emergency", which was rolled out with major promises six years ago. Before the formal debate opened, the MPAs discussed the 'administrative crisis' facing the Sindh Education Department and its failure to improve performance despite spending billions.
"People want to know about the progress on the so-called education emergency imposed in the province a few years back. Thousands of teachers are still getting salaries while sitting at home, while no one is bothered to re-open ghost schools," GDA MPA Shaharyar Mahar said. The members of the cabinet have blamed floods for destroying educational infrastructure, but have nothing to say on the issue of ghost teachers, he added.
"Can someone from the treasury benches cite a single government-run school that can be presented as an example in rendering quality education in the province. What about the plan regarding setting up 300 model schools," Mahar asked.
PTI MPA Bilal Ghafar inquired how many new schools had been built during the last five years. "Despite the government's tall claims, the literary ratio in our province is less than Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," he said.
PTI's Saeed Afridi drew the House's attention towards schools that have been turned into drug dens in his constituency in Karachi's PS-120.
"The schools and hostels have been occupied by mafias who patronise illegal activities there. I have lodged many complaints here, but the education minister and other government official are keeping mum on the issues," he said. Afridi's constituency is located in Karachi's West and includes Qasba Colony, Aligarh Colony, and areas of Orangi among others.
Nasir Hussain Qureshi of the MQM-P said: "A sum of more than Rs200 billion has been pumped into the education sector, but the results are pathetic," he said, adding that people have been deprived of drinking water and basic facilities as they bear the brunt of inflation.
During the debate, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho presented the five-year performance of her department, saying that 890 liver transplants and 6,985 kidney transplants were conducted in the government's facilities over the past five years.
She said that 81 per cent children aged between 12 and 23 months were fully immunized, while 38 million, or 90 per cent eligible population have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Regarding her plan for coming years, she said that her department was going to convert government-run hospitals and dispensaries to solar power
Earlier, there was uproar when the session started with Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair. PTI MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman and Information Minister Shareel Inam Memon had a heated exchange over the Islamabad police raid on Imran Khan's residence in Lahore.
Later, the session was adjourned till Thursday (today).
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2023.