Tessori asks CM to form commission to promote primary education in Sindh

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori has asked Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for the formation of a ‘Primary Education Commission’ to promote primary education in the province.

In a letter to the CM, the governor said: “There is no doubt that in recent years, the Education & Literacy Department of the Government of Sindh, under your able leadership is endeavoring galore for raising the standard of education, enhancing enrollment and functioning of the abandoned schools and colleges in the province.”

The letter further reads: “However, according to the Pakistan Social & Living Standards Measurement Survey of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the net enrollment rate at the primary level age (4-9) including katchi class is 60 percent at national level as compared to 65 percent in 2014-15, which is also low as compared to other countries of the region – unfortunately our province Sindh has no exception and it ranks third in the four provinces of Pakistan.

“Your good-self would appreciate that Primary Education is the foremost step of the educational ladder and provides our children the opportunity to promote personal growth and above everything, it is a fundamental human right. I believe that Primary Education, with its immense significance, is worth much more attention, funds, policy and planning. It is a fact, that low enrolment and subsequent lower attendance in the class is still so distant to a least satisfactory level.”

The governor further wrote that even in urban areas, it happens in households having more children that only male child is given education at school, and the girls remain confined to domestic chores only. Besides, he said, the standard of appointed teachers in schools, their regular attendance, fewer number of schools and their efficiency, insufficient and ineffective check over the schools working in private sector and alike a number of issues are the causes of the existing worrying state.

“I understand that in order to address all these multifaceted and deep-rooted issues relevant with our primary education, it is high time to establish a Primary Education Commission by the Government of Sindh.”

Tessori suggested that it should be the first of its kind in the country and can be of great salience in reaching long-lasting solutions to existing hindrances. “Undoubtedly, it would be a vivid manifestation of the concerns and seriousness of the Government of Sindh towards this important issue.

The proposed commission, composed of eminent academicians and able officers, can be given a wider scope, authority and mandate to bring positive changes in the whole system in coordination with School Education Department for a better future of our students.”

Courtesy: Published at The News on April 16, 2023