CM vows school standards review

LAHORE:

Warning that corrupt elements will not be tolerated in the education department, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that steps are being taken to improve the quality of teaching at the matriculation level.

Chairing a review meeting on education sector reforms, she directed the authorities to devise a fool-proof system for evaluating the performance of school teachers. She sought a monthly key performance indicators (KPI) plan for the purpose.

She directed the authorities to start the Chief Minister School Meal Programme in Jhelum, besides notifying guidelines to store milk for the Nutrition Programme.

The chief minister directed the deputy commissioners to conduct monitoring under the Punjab School Reforms Programme. She directed the authorities to introduce 'themes of the month' in government schools, and sought a comprehensive plan for upgrading their information technology labs. The CM issued directives to set up a Centre of Excellence for Early Child Education in each district and sought a report on the selection of CEOs, as well as the deputy and district education officers.

She reviewed a proposal for the formation of a School Management Cadre. She also reviewed issues related to curriculum development in collaboration with experts from Cambridge and other institutions.

The CM approved hiring of experts for spoken English classes in government schools.

She approved the hiring of university volunteers to overcome the shortage of teachers in schools. She considered a pilot project to provide fortified biscuits and buns to students under the World Food Programme.

The CM was presented a monitoring report based on an app of the School Meal Programme.

She was informed that student enrolment had increased by 20,000 since the start of the programme.

The stressed that the universal school enrolment target should achieved in all union councils. Meanwhile, the Grand Teachers Alliance and Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) plan to observe the World Teaches Day on October 5 as a black day in all districts in protest against the outsourcing of government schools. The unions are planning a boycott of academic activities on the day.

They said they would continue their protest against the privatisation of government schools through their outsourcing to NGOs and private groups.

The plan of the Punjab government to outsource about 13,000 public sector schools has resulted in teachers' protests since last week in several districts, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Narowal, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Chakwal.

The teachers' unions had started the protest on September 26 in Lahore and other cities.

The Punjab government issued show-cause notices to a number teachers over participating in the protests.

"While the whole world will celebrate the World Teaches Day, we in Punjab will observe a black day. Our community is united for our demands but the government is not listening to us and is ready to outsource the government schools that are the only educational option for the children of the poor families," said PTU Secretary General Rana Liaqat Ali.

He said the academic activities had stopped in many districts, including Rawalpindi, urging the chief minister to listen to the demands. He said it was tragic that the teachers had been forced to take to the streets for protest.

A woman teacher alleged that some elements in the education ministry wanted to outsource the schools for their vested interests. She said the protest would continue despite vindictive acts against its participants, including suspensions and notices.

A spokesman for the Punjab Education Ministry said, "Teaches are the backbone of our education system and the ministry never thinks of any unfair treatment with them."

He said the education ministry was striving for the welfare and status of the teachers and all their lawful demands would be fulfilled.