Azma takes a dig at Punjab governor

Information minister slams PPP's Sindh rule, tells governor to stick to ceremonial duties

LAHORE:

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has once again criticised her party's ally, Governor Sardar Saleem Haider, this time in response to his opposition to handing over schools to the private sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Bukhari advised the governor to refrain from interfering in the provincial government's affairs and sarcastically suggested he should enjoy tea, coffee, and dry fruits at his official residence instead.

Firing a broadside at him, Bukhari said that the governor should avoid adopting an opposition-like stance akin to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

She pointed out the dismal state of education in Sindh, where the PPP has been at the helm for 16 years, pointing out issues such as animals being tied up in classrooms and widespread cheating during examinations.

She lauded Punjab's improved education standards that have allowed students from government schools to achieve top positions in board exams.

"In a province under PPP's rule, a 19th-century education system still prevails," she added.

She responded to the governor's statements by citing the ongoing media reports regarding ghost employees and students within Sindh's education department. She said that aside from two areas in Karachi and Hyderabad, literacy rates in the rest of Sindh are virtually zero.

Bukhari highlighted that while seven districts in Punjab enjoy high literacy rates, many areas in Sindh are devoid of proper school facilities. She further claimed that students from government schools in Punjab are hitting the books and achieving top marks, contrasting it with the controversies surrounding the recent MDCAT exam in Sindh.

The governor, she noted with a note of irritation, should stick to his ceremonial duties and let the professionals handle education.

Azma Bukhari asserted that due to improved education standards in Punjab, students from government schools are achieving prominent positions in board examinations.

Maryam Nawaz is well aware of how to effectively manage the province's administrative affairs, she added.

The governor had, a day earlier, opposed the decision to hand over schools to the private sector under the PPP model, stating that in Sindh, where his party is in power, schools operating under this mode charged nominal fees, whereas schools in Punjab were primarily focused on charging hefty fees under the pretext of hiring quality teachers.

He noted that during a recent board meeting, he discovered that apart from increasing fees, the owners of these schools had no vision for improvement.

He criticised the practice of contracting schools in rural areas to individuals with only a matriculation certificate who were then appointed as teachers.