Over 4,000 schools handed over to Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved on Thursday the takeover of over 4,000 schools formerly being run under the federal education and professional training ministry and increased teachers' salaries to Rs25,000 from Rs8,000.

The handover of 4,192 non-formal schools - under the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) - to the province was decided at the 42nd Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting held in August 2020.

The CM gave his approval during a meeting at the Chief Minister's House on Thursday.

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani apprised the meeting that there were a total of 4,192 centers or schools operating under the federal government. Of these, 1,463 were BECS, which employed 1,463 teachers and had an enrolment of 61,118 students while 2,729 schools or centers were operating under NCHD and they employed 2,962 teachers and had 175,637 students enrolled.

The meeting was briefed that these schools or centers were being run under a non-formal education system with faculty teaching students on a voluntary basis and being paid a remuneration of Rs8,000 a month.

The CM said that the teachers would be paid Rs25,000 per month as that is the minimum wage announced by the Sindh government for the fiscal year 2021-22. The finance department estimated that to pay the minimum wage for 4,425 teachers would cost around Rs1.33 billion and the CM approved the amount.

He directed the provincial education department to take over the operations of the schools immediately and to ensure the same teaching staff is part of the faculty. After some time the teachers may appear for the provincial public service commission test and those who qualify may be inducted as regular staff, said Shah, directing the education department to assess basic facilities at these schools such as furniture, water, electricity, and washrooms and ensure provision.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2021.