IT is not possible to describe the size of education economy of Sindh through numbers for there is hardly any authentic data worth its name available.

Attempts were made to reach out to stakeholders over cell phones and through emails to get something going, but reluctance of the key players to share feedback, barring a few, was strange; though not unexpected.

When Dawn approached the Private Schools Management Association (PSMA) to know the number of private schools and their investment size to compare the current scenario with what it was like two decades ago, its president simply said the association did not maintain such data. PSMA Chairman Sharaf-uz-Zaman was also emailed a brief questionnaire and given with sufficient time — more than sufficient, actually — to answer it, but he didn’t respond despite confirming receipt of the email.

Sindh Minister for Education and Literacy Nisar Khuhro was sent messages on his personal cell phone and through his secretary repeatedly, but the minister apparently had better things to do.

Sindh Education Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho was among the exceptions, acknowledging the weaknesses in the public sector and arguing that public-private partnership was a global phenomenon. “During the last three years, teachers in Sindh are being hired purely on merit,” he stressed and hoped that public perception “will change about government schools” soon.

Article 25A of the Constitution (Right to education):The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.

He, however, regretted that the province’s current spending on the sector stood at Rs140bn of which over 80pc went to salary bill and maintenance, leaving a miniscule sum for development. The government has launched a programme to improve infrastructure of public schools and Rs5.5bn are being spent, he added.

All attempts to reach Dr Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui, Director-General, Directorate of Inspections of Private Schools and Colleges, were futile. The lengthy and lofty title of his office kept him busy with everything except taking a call from Dawn.

A known educationist in the private sector, who is himself running several O and A level schools in Karachi, confided that there were “no direct taxes” on the income of educational institutions, but teachers do pay income tax in “some” schools. “Education has become a lucrative business and the reason for massive investment is that it is a free-ride.”

The parallel business of tuition or coaching centres also exerts huge pressure on domestic budgets. “The need of taking home or class-based tuition despite studying in branded chains and even the most expensive of schools is itself a serious question mark over the quality of education,” he continued.

He stressed the need for rationalising fee structure. Currently there are schools with a monthly fee of Rs35-100,000 with no comparison to those charging Rs3-15,000. In rural areas there are schools charging as low as Rs500 at the elementary level.

Faisal Ahmed Uqaili, Chief Programme Manager of Reform Support Unit (RSU) of Sindh government, said there were over 46,000 public schools of which around 40,000 were functional across the province with a total enrolment of over four million with major chunk in the lower classes. “The province has a high dropout rate which is well reflected in just 41,000 registrations in Class 12,” he stated in an email reply.

Independent sources put the number of registered private schools above 12,000 in the province, but the number of enrolments could not be known. For regulating private schools, the government introduced the Sindh Private Educational Institution (Regulation and Control) Ordinance 2001, Amended Act 2003 and Rule 2005. How much regulation is in place is another thing.

According to Pakistan Social and Living Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2013-14, household’s average expenditure on a single primary school student is Rs15,113 per year in urban areas and Rs7,197 in rural areas. For students attending private primary schools, the expenditure on average is three times higher.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2016