APROPOS the editorial ‘Sindh’s education woes’ (March 25), Dawn has aptly suggested that fixing these woes involves a multi-pronged strategy of considerable proportion and identified the government’s constitutional obligation to have every child in school.

While there is no disputing the lack of commitment at the administrative level, the lack of tangible improvement can be attributed more to this lack at a political level. A look at the track records of education ministers, secretaries and directories, entrusted by their political bosses with this task, speak volumes. And there still remains the need for bold recognition at a national level of the scarcity of resources and low allocation of funds towards education.

So while multi-pronged strategies are being deliberated by the donors and political leaders, I believe there is a need to seek partnerships with parents – to offer enough schools close to home that offer a standard level of education, calculate per child costs for such education and ensure its allocation to schools’ budgets, and fix the fee at double the per child cost – but allow parents to pay fees according to their capacity, to the extent of free education for those who can’t afford it for their children. Do the same for books and uniforms. Allocations from the exchequer supplemented by school fees collected from other parents would meet the cost. A similar model could also be replicated at the secondary school level. The secret of such a system’s success would be to ensure no compromise on standards; at all levels, appointed educators should be committed, well qualified and well paid.

One this is for sure, most parents, even from the lower-middle class, would find this solution better than what the private sector is offering them at a higher cost.

Saiyid Muhammad Sibtain

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2017