July 06, 2008	Sunday	Rajab 2, 1429

KARACHI, July 5: Research studies carried out in 400 government primary schools in Sindh show a dismal picture of the performance of school management committees (SMCs) with about 43 per cent of schools reporting no community role while only 2pc of schools hold monthly general body meetings.

The reports prepared by a team of the Applied Economics Research Centre of Karachi University were presented by Akhtar A. Hai, joint director, AERC, at a seminar organised by the provincial education and literacy department in collaboration with the European Commission Technical Assistance under the Sindh Education Reform Programme at the Reform Support Unit (RSU), NJV building on Saturday.

Sharing the findings of the reports that cover all districts of Sindh, Mr Hai said that one of the important reasons of the SMCs’ failure to deliver was that the funds allocated to them to oversee and regulate the functioning of schools either didn’t reach them or there was a delay of at least one year. Only 5pc of schools reported substantial improvement in staff attendance as a result of the SMCs while there were only 7pc cases in which SMCs were found to be raising funds for schools.

“Besides, there is a big question mark over the utilisation of funds. There were many cases where the basic needs were ignored and funds were being utilised on less important school projects,” he said, adding that only 8pc schools reported utilisation of SMC funds for hiring teachers and nearly two-thirds schools reported that SMC members conducted random spot-checks on school activities.

About the poor involvement of the community in SMCs, he said: “This is the weakest aspect of school education in Sindh. Only 25 per cent schools reported that all members participated in meetings when invited. Nearly 11pc reported that the selection of parents as members of the executive committee was done by notables and elders.”

Highlighting the factors impeding the working of SMCs, Mr Hai said there was a lack of coordination among different stakeholders and there was direct interference by officials, including EDOs, ADOs and nazims.

Giving the facts about the school facilities and infrastructure in the province, he said only 51pc schools had proper boundary walls. Forty per cent schools had fulltime chowkidars and 6pc had sweepers. Forty-nine per cent had legal while 25pc had illegal electricity connections.

“Thirty four per cent children had access to a desk with writing tables, 39pc schools had buildings in good condition, 17pc schools’ ceilings leaked severely during rains, 63pc schools had drinking water in functional form, 44pc schools had separate, functional toilets for children while only one per cent had a separate library. The average student-teacher ratio was 40:1.”

Making recommendations, he said the mandate of the SMCs needed to be rationalised and more resources should be allocated for schools in rural areas. “There is a significant lapse of time in the release of funds. Political interference must be reduced and the head teacher must be given autonomy, training and community support. Besides, policies should be consistent and be made keeping in view the historical and sociological background of different areas,” he said.

Later, the secretary for education and literacy, Rizwan Memon, inaugurated the recently built Strategic Leadership Unit Training Hall at the RSU.

The speakers included senior educationist Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, RSU chief programme manager Alia Shahid, M. Siddique Bhatti (adviser with the delegation of the EC, Islamabad), EC SER-TA expert Lucy Jones, Sadruddin Pardhan (AKU-IED), Naseer Memon (Lead), Wasim Qazi (Iqra University) and Faisal Ahmed Uqaili (RSU).