Seminar highlights crisis in Sindh's public education sector

BADIN:

An educational and intellectual seminar was organised in Talhar city under the banner of the Student Action Committee, comprising students and youth from various educational institutions of the area.

The speakers expressed grave concern over the deteriorating state of education in Talhar and Sindh at large. They lamented that despite repeated assurances from government representatives and strong demands from students and civil society, the Sindh government had failed to allocate any funds in the current provincial budget for the establishment of quality educational institutions in Talhar and Badin, or for the construction of the Sindh University Laar Campus in Badin.

They termed this neglect an act of "hostility towards education." The speakers criticised the Sindh government and PPP leadership for diverting Sindh's funds to Punjab and other provinces for personal and political gain, depriving the people of Sindh of their constitutional and legal rights.

They highlighted the severe lack of basic facilities in schools - broken buildings, absence of teachers, lack of furniture, and no provision of drinking water or washrooms - while many schools exist only on paper. The participants declared that spending Sindh's education budget in other provinces was tantamount to plundering the rights of Sindh's people.

They also pointed out that thousands of students from Badin district are deprived of higher education simply because there are no local universities, and their parents cannot afford to send them to cities like Karachi or Hyderabad. They stressed the urgent need for a medical college, agriculture university, law college, and engineering university in Badin.

The participants demanded that the Sindh University Laar Campus be upgraded and expanded to include departments such as medicine, law, engineering, and agriculture.

The seminar drew participation from prominent political, academic, legal, literary, and civil society figures, including Sindh United Party's Central Vice President Jami Chandio, Secretary District Bar Association Badin Advocate Amir Azad Phanwar, Professor Dr. Tufail Chandio, Professor Shabbir Memon, Dr. Muhammad Somar Khoso, Kabir Bheel, Nasir Baloch, Yaseen Kumbar, Faizan Shafiq Jamali, Asadullah Aisar, Hafeez Khaskheli, Ravi Kumbar, Waqas Charan, Siraj Khatti, Abdullah Thebo, Munir Ahmed, Mazhar Hussain Kehri, and a large number of students, including girls.

At the end of the seminar, outstanding students from various institutions were awarded shields and certificates in recognition of their academic achievements.