LARKANA, Sept 28: The Sindh government has decided to upgrade 29 schools from primary to middle and the high to higher secondary level in Larkana district under the Annual Development Programme 2007-08.

Well-placed sources in the provincial education department told Dawn that the planning and development wing of the department had approved the proposal on Sept 22.

They said that the education department planned construction of around 12 two-room primary schools in Ratodero, Dokri, Bakrani and Larkana talukas.

Sources said that Deputy Director Dilawar Ali Mangi of the planning division had already dispatched a letter to the district officer of education asking him to immediately start civil work on the approved locations.

The programme in question envisages upgrade the status of 13 existing primary schools, three each in Ratodero, Bakrani, and Dokri and four in Larkana to middle schools.

It would be pertinent to mention here that the Larkana district government had asked the provincial authorities to upgrade the status of around 20 primary schools but the relevant authorities declining the demand gave approval for the upgrade of only 13 schools.

Similarly, 10 middle schools would be upgraded to high schools and six high schools would be upgraded to higher secondary schools.

The Sindh government had also approved construction of science laboratories in ten existing secondary and higher secondary schools in the district, sources said. They said that 30 more classrooms would be constructed in seven secondary and higher secondary schools. Ten computer laboratories would be constructed in 10 secondary and higher secondary schools.

The Sindh education department had turned down the demand of the district government for the construction of three single-section high schools, rehabilitation of 21 high schools and reconstruction of four new high schools. According to sources, the EDO education has been asked to immediately hand over the possession of suitable sites to the engineering wing of the education department.