Blank boards: 40% schools in five districts lack teacher strength

At least 288 boys and 208 girls schools were surveyed for the report.

PESHAWAR: Not only is the absence of teachers an issue for students in government schools, a survey shows around 40% educational institutes in five districts are run by just one or two people.

The survey was conducted to track grants received by schools in Mardan, Malakand, Nowshera, Swabi and Swat. It was carried out by Pakistan Coalition for Education and presented to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) department on October 13. A copy of the survey available with The Express Tribune shows activities in 10% of the schools are run by just one teacher per institute, while 30% of the institutes are managed by two teachers.

Teachers qualification

The documents, based on data collected from almost 100 schools from each district, showed teacher qualification was also one of the key elements of the survey.

A majority of the teachers had a bachelor or master’s degree. Out of 1,943 teachers, whose information was gathered, 24% had a bachelor’s degree, 39% were qualified with a master’s degree, 22% had completed intermediate while 14% had done matriculation.

“About 43% teachers appointed in boys schools and 32% in girls schools had a master’s degree while 52% of the teachers had a primary teachers certificate.”  The data was collected from 496 schools out of which 288 were boys and 208 were girls.

Check on funds

About 41% of Parent Teacher Council members lacked a formal education. Documents stated 17 schools reported they had not received PTC funds in 2014-15, but the first quarter of 2015-16 saw majority of the institutes get the earmarked finances. About 41% of the funds were spent on new installations while 28% were spent on repair work.

The missing facilities at schools were also checked. Around 25% schools in the five districts did not have access to potable water and 49% lacked a lavatory. However, 94% schools reported receiving free textbooks from the government during the previous academic year.

Breakdown

Pakistan Coalition for Education Coordinator Zehra Arshad said 23% of the primary schools in Swat were run by one teacher, while 42% in Malakand district were run by two teachers. She added around 71% of the teachers in Swat had a bachelor’s degree and 20% in Swabi were BEd or MEd qualified. She said the survey would be extended to 25 districts next year. K-P E&SE Chief Planning Officer Idrees Azam lauded the organisation for carrying out the survey, saying the education department released a large amount for all districts and such surveys help monitor utilisation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2015.