HYDERABAD, June 20: Sindh Education Minister Dr Hameeda Khuhro has said that improvement in the standard of education is priority of the government and added that development could only be brought about in the country through education. She was speaking as chief guest at the launching ceremony of the ‘literacy campaign’ and the certificate distribution ceremony of the leadership training programme at the Institute of Sindhology, University of Sindh, on Sunday.

The programme was organized by the Iqra University, Karachi, which imparted training to head teachers of Jamshoro, Dadu and Khairpur districts.

Dr Khuhro said when she took over as the education minister, there were complaints of rampant corruption in the department and added that it was her mission to root out corruption and ensure appointment of highly qualified and conscientious teachers.

She said only those nations and countries could progress which had a high literacy rate.

Stressing the need for reforms in the educational system, she claimed that improvement in the English subject right from the nursery to university level was the sine qua non for raising the standard of education.

She called upon teachers not only to impart good education to students but also provide an atmosphere conducive to them.

She said closed schools in rural and urban areas would be reopened and buildings would be provided for each and every institution. She asked teachers to attend to their duties regularly.

The minister acknowledged services of the Iqra University in training teachers and thanked the university management. “This venture by the institution has indeed laid a foundation for cooperation between private sectors’ institutions like Iqra and the education ministry “, she said. She said the most significant part of this endeavour was the literacy campaign, a joint venture of the department of education and the Iqra University.

Dr Waseem Qazi of the Iqra University dwelt at length on salient features of the training programme for heads of secondary/higher secondary schools.

He said the university was endeavouring to conceive its professional development programmes with the broad prospective of school improvement and effectiveness. He said 167 teachers had completed the training programme and most of them had moved to practice their new role as pedagogical leaders.

Iqra University chancellor Hunaid H. Lakhani thanked those who had been instrumental in ensuring the success of the training programme.

He assured the education minister that the university would always offer its professional expertise in future and combine its resources with the public sector as and when the need arose.

He hoped that such training programmes would go a long way in sustaining literacy initiatives in the country.

University of Sindh vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui also spoke on the occasion.