'Sindh has lowest early childhood education registration'

Pre-primary schools lack basic facilities such as clean water, bathrooms and playgrounds

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has sought a comprehensive report from the Sindh chief secretary on the implementation of the Sukkur Bench order on a petition against the non-implementation of the policy of provision of early childhood education.

A hearing in this regard was held before a two-member bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar.

The lawyer of the petitioner, Usman Farooq Advocate, stated that the policy of provision of early childhood education has been made, but is not being implemented.

According to the UNESCO report, Sindh has the lowest registration for early childhood education. The average enrollment in early childhood education across the country is 43% while in Sindh it is 27%. Many pre-primary schools in Sindh lack basic facilities such as clean water, bathrooms and playgrounds.

According to the Department of Education's own report, 60% of early childhood education teachers are untrained. Implementation of Early Childhood Care and Education Policy 2015 and Sindh Education Sector Plan should be ensured. The ongoing projects for provision of early childhood education should be completed and activated soon. The Sindh High Court Sukkur Bench has already issued an order in this regard. Justice Panhwar in his remarks said that education is an important sector, it cannot be ignored. The court asked the chief secretary of Sindh to submit a comprehensive report on the implementation of the Sukkur bench order by September 30.

Missing citizens case

The Sindh High Court heard the petitions regarding the recovery of missing persons including a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and sought reports from the detention centres and agencies across the country.

Representatives of police authorities and other relevant institutions appeared in the court, however, the families of most of the missing citizens did not show up for the hearing.

The investigating officer said in his statement that Qazi Ejazuddin of MQM is missing from Surjani Town area. Qazi's wife has confirmed that her husband was a member of MQM. It has been learned from the JITs that the citizen was also working as an estate agent.