KARACHI, July 25: Despite preparation of strict regulations and clear directives by the provincial education department, most of the private educational institutions, both in rural and urban areas of Sindh, lack some basic facilities like libraries, playgrounds, science and computer labs, transport, and teaching kits.

According to official estimates, there are more than 6,457 private educational institutions in Sindh, out of which only 48 institutions in rural areas offer facilities of science and computer labs to their students. However, the number of private institutions in urban areas is encouraging, where nearly 25 per cent private educational institutions offer facilities of science and computer labs to their students.

Only 358 private institutions, including those which offer under and postgraduate degrees in rural Sindh, have the facilities of playgrounds, whereas some 1,620 institutions in urban areas of the province have the facility of playgrounds or other recreational areas within their premises.

A meagre number of private institutions, some 127 in rural areas of Sindh have libraries, while around 2,153 institutions in urban areas have libraries within their premises.

Only 11 institutions in rural and 76 in urban areas have hostels.

About 44 institutions in rural Sindh have halls or auditoriums to hold various extracurricular activities at their own premises whereas some 1,455 private educational institutions in urban Sindh have halls or auditoriums for the same, a report prepared by the Federal Bureau Statistics revealed.

As many as 3,234 private institutions in the urban areas of the province provide teaching kits including reading and other material, whereas some 401 institutions in rural areas have the same facility for their students.

A majority of the institutions have failed to provide sports facilities, especially for indoor games, as only 731 institutions in urban areas have sports halls, whereas only 33 institutions established in rural areas offer the facility to students, the survey pointed out.

Only 37 private institutions in rural Sindh provide the facility of audio-visual labs to their students, while this facility is available at only 1,983 private educational institutions in urban areas of the province.

Transport is another major area of concern for students and their parents as only 28 rural institutions provide transport facilities to students coming from far-flung areas to attend classes, whereas only 390 institutions in urban areas provide transport to their students.

The survey indicates that out of 6,457 private educational institutions all over the province, 5,943 impart general education, 86 are undergraduate professional or technical training institutions, 42 are professional or technical training institutions.—PPI