Resources overload: MPAs learn Tharparkar village has 54 schools

Education minister admits to presence of schools, refuses to take action.

KARACHI:

Sindh Education Minister Nisar Khuhro confirmed that there are 54 schools in only one village in Tharparkar district but he failed to see the problem with these statistics.

During the Sindh Assembly session on Monday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Dr Khatu Mal Jeewan pointed out the remarkable number of schools in only one village of Sindh and their present state - most of them are used as residential units or are lying idle. The teachers in these schools are, however, dutifully withdrawing their salaries.

Khuhro admitted that an unnecessary number of schools were established without fulfilling the basic criterion of population and enrolment. "As per the rules, the school building should be built at the distance of one-and-a-half kilometres but it is very unfortunate that dozens of schools are built in every small village," he said. "Even villages with only two to three houses have been given a school building that is used for some other purpose."

The minister announced that no new building will be established unless the present ones are restored. But for the empty schools that already exist, he had little to say.

Dr Jeewan, who hails from Tharparkar, told speaker Agha Siraj Durrani that many villages in his constituency are deprived of education. "Fifty-four schools are built only in Waori Goth, which comprises of 400 houses. Noorai Jo Tarr of Chachro tehsil has 40." The teachers are given salaries and funds are released even though these schools are not functioning, he added.



"The chief minister assured me that a survey will be conducted and, after that, the school buildings may be auctioned," Dr Jeewan told The Express Tribune. "Some of these schools will be shifted to nearby villages." He felt that former chief minister, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, had deliberately stopped schools from being built in PPP-dominated areas. "In my constituency, children still travel miles in sand dunes to go to the nearby towns."

Waste management board

In the absence of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmakers, who had walked out of the session against the arrest of their workers, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Bill, 2014. The bill was supported by both the treasury and the remaining opposition parties. Several members criticised the defunct city government that failed to lift garbage properly.

The waste management board will be chaired by the chief minister and will have the authority to grant permission to stakeholders.

The Sindh lawmakers also passed the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) Post-Graduation Institute of Life Science Bill 2014. "As blood diseases are increasing in the country, there is a lack of skilled professionals to fight life-threatening diseases," said parliamentary minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro. "It is, therefore, necessary to grant charter to the NIBD that aims to encourage the private sector to provide medical education."

School admissions and polio vaccination

The lawmakers unanimously passed two different resolutions on the attack on polio workers in Qayyumabad. In the first resolution moved by PPP MPA Dr Sikandar Shoro, the assembly condemned the violent attack against the polio workers. They recommended the Government of Pakistan honour the victims with the highest civil award.

In another resolution moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Khurrum Sher Zaman, the lawmakers recommended the provincial government approach the federal government to make polio vaccination mandatory for every child in the country. Birth certificates, passports, school and madressa admissions will only be given to those who qualify.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2014.