KARACHI: Despite the prevalent problem of ghost teachers, particularly in the rural areas, only one teacher had been sacked for working at two places at the same time, said Sindh education minister Jam Mahtab Dahar on Friday.

He was responding to queries made by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) legislator Nusrat Abbasi during the question hour at the Sindh Assembly’s session that pertained to the education department.

Responding to a question by the PML-F legislator regarding the number of absent teachers dismissed from service between 2008 and 2013, the minister said that only Shazia Channa, a high school teacher in Sukkur, had been removed from government service on account of rendering double service at an army public school and at a college in Sukkur. However, disciplinary action had been taken against 594 absent teachers in accordance with the relevant rules in Larkana.

Answering another question, the minister said that attendance of teachers through biometric system has been initiated and the information is available easily to keep a strict check.

Regarding the recruitment of teachers between 2008 and 2013, the minister said that 5,649 teachers had been recruited in the province on the basis of merit. However, when asked if this number also included thousands of teachers illegally appointed by the former education minister, also belonging to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, Jam Mahtab, without referring to the Dadu-based former minister, said that an enquiry was conducted and responsibility had been fixed on 17 education department officials, some of whom were in jail and others out on bail and were being tried.

Responding to a question by Pakistan Peoples Party legislator Nadir Magsi regarding the hundreds of teachers protesting outside the assembly over non-payment of salaries, the minister said that the cases of many of the teachers were being examined as many of them had been appointed on bogus / fake certificates. A mechanism was being developed and they would be examined to see if they knew their job for which they were appointed.

A written reply was given to a question by MQM’s Naheed Begum regarding the number of schools closed in Sukkur. Out of 1,311 schools in Sukkur district, 85 were closed; 34 of these have been permanently shut down.

A written reply to a question asked by MQM legislator Naila Munir, says that though the Free and Compulsory Education Act 2013 prescribes that private schools have to provide free education to 10 per cent of their students, the work plan and implementation strategy in this regard had not yet been prepared.

In a written reply to a question by MQM legislator Adnan Ahmed regarding distribution of free books, the minister said that over 16 million books were distributed in all government schools among students studying from Class 1 to Class 10 in 2013-14, and a balance stock of over 25,000 books was in the godowns of Sindh Text Book Board.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016