With a vision to merge all offices and sub-departments of the education department, currently scattered over the city, the foundation stone for the 11-storey Sindh Education Complex Building was laid on Thursday.
“At an estimated cost of more than Rs188 million, the education complex will be completed by June 2015,” announced Pir Mazharul Haq, the education and literacy minister. The complex which will be constructed over an area of 23,000 square feet in Clifton Block 7. He took the opportunity to inform the media that the Sindh government proposed to double the education budget from Rs7 billion to Rs15.5 billion for the next fiscal year.
“Governments come and go but we are interested in strengthening the educational institutions for welfare of the people,” said Pir Mazhar, adding that the complex would provide a one-window operation for all educational activities. “A separate floor will be dedicated to visitors as people from Karachi and even rural areas visit the department’s offices multiple times but their problems remain unresolved.”
Elaborating on the minister’s point, the education secretary, Muhammad Siddique Memon, said that, “For better coordination and assistance for people, there is a dire need to accommodate all departments at one place”. The Sindh Textbook Board (STB) and Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) will also be accommodated in the complex.
Pir Mazhar cited the seemingly uncontrollable school dropout trend from primary schools as an important issue, asking civil society to join the government in getting rid of the problem. “We have decided to upgrade around 1,100 primary schools to middle-level schools and the middle-level schools will be upgraded to secondary level to resolve the dropout rate.”
Location, location
Pir Mazhar told The Express Tribune that the scheme for this project was approved in 2008 but was delayed because there was no appropriate site.
In 2009, the Sindh sports minister Dr Muhammad Ali Shah reportedly intervened when the education department started construction at a playground adjacent to the Government Commerce College. “We accepted the principled stance that a playground should not be used for this purpose,” said Pir Mazhar. He said that land was also considered in Jamshed Town but it was rejected due to the massive flow of traffic and intermittent jams in and around the site.
Eventually, the site at Clifton was selected. It was in use of the SEF on a tenancy agreement with the STB who owns it. The semi-autonomous foundation, headed by Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, undertakes educational initiatives in the less developed areas of Sindh. But when the STB volunteered the site for the education complex, the SEF was asked to vacate in three days. “An organisation which oversees a network of more than 3,000 schools cannot be relocated in such a short span of time,” said SEF’s director, Aziz Kabani. “We required at least six months and are thankful to the education minister for providing us time till June.”
The SEF with all its offices will be shifted to the Ameer Khusro Road before June when the construction work is expected to begin.
Lyari Expressway project
On the 22 schools affected by the Lyari Expressway project, which were later closed due to unavailability of funds, the education minister offered a formal apology for the delay in resolving the issue. “Now these schools have been handed over to the education department and will be up and running by June,” he said. These schools aim to educate around 5,000 children who will be provided free textbooks by the department.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2012.
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School premises should be upgraded in order to curb the drop out ratio. I am a Primary School Teacher @ GBPS JAHANGIR ROAD NO.3 and we have no electricity, proper drinking water and other stuff. Our students ratio is dropping due to this condition. Moreover the ill administration is reflected in a sense that 4 schools (2 primary & 2 secondary) running in the school in which interestingly 2 primary schools at same time and 2 secondary at same time which results in poor admission ratio because of the admission division between 2 schools at a same time. It would be more viable if 1 primary and 1 secondary run in morning and the other primary & secondary in afternoon.
I wish they used that money in overhauling the education infrastructure, oh wait but how could they make money if they invest on people!