March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

KARACHI, March 11: The Sindh caretaker Minister for Education, Shujaat Ali Baig, on Tuesday disclosed that of the total 57,000 government schools across the province, over 8,000 were ‘ghost schools’, and in some cases feudal lords were using them as their ‘Autaqs’.

He made these remarks while speaking at the launching of a book, a compilation of the poems of 380 poets rendered during 16 annual Mushairas held under the aegis of Sakinan Shehr-i-Quaid Mushaira Committee.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad was scheduled to launch the book and inaugurate the ground floor of the primary section of Majlis-i-Ilmi School Project, but could not make it due to his engagements.

The caretaker minister said that the standard of education in government schools throughout the province had declined to such an extent that there was no room left for further deterioration.

Referring to the education department’s plan of setting up English medium schools in all the 18 town of the city, he said that teachers of these schools would be provided with sufficient training so that they could impart quality education to students.

He said that keeping in view the outcome of this experiment, similar schools would be opened in the interior of Sindh.

Lauding the efforts of the office-bearers of the Sakinan Shehr-i-Quaid Mushaira committee and Majlis-e-Ilmi School project for compiling the poetry of over 380 poets and opening a school, he said that the spirit with which they were working would definitely help them realize their dream of creating a society where moral values and tolerance would prevail over other worldly things.

The secretary of Majlis-i-Ilmi School, Azhar Abbas Hashmi, said that the primary section of the school would start functioning from August 1 provided the school got a proper water connection.

Highlighting the salient features of the school, he said that admissions to the school would be granted purely on merit and the top 10 students in the order of merit would be given free scholarships for the entire academic year.

Besides, hobbies clubs of the school would provide a number of facilities to students, he said.

In this regard, he pointed out that the ground floor of the building had already been completed on an amenity plot measuring 3,000 square yards in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 1, while a huge park and a playground for the students would be developed on an adjacent 3,000 square-yard plot which City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had allotted to the school project.

Renowned writer Fatima Surraiya Bajia and Karachi University’s vice-chancellor, Dr Pirzada Qasim, lauded the efforts being made by all those associated with the Sakinan Shehr-i-Quaid’s Mushaira Committee, its Majlis-e-Ilmi School Project and its trust for their projects for the welfare of poets, writers and teachers.