KARACHI, Aug 19: Sindh education department had initiated the process to recruit the teachers across the province, and the applications would be invited soon through the press, Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat said.

“All the appointments would be made purely on merit basis and no quota, even of ministers, advisors etc would be considered,” he said while talking to a group of newsmen at the Governor’s House, after the oath taking of acting governor on Tuesday.

The advertisements, inviting applications, would be released to the press some time this week, he told.

“Merit will strictly be observed in the appointment of teachers and for this purpose the education department has made arrangements to conduct written test through a third party- a private organization, so that no candidate could use any influence,” the minister said.

To a query, Mr Marwat said that cases of misappropriation in the funds, released to school management committees, were being sent to the anti-corruption department, after the approval by chief minister. “Bungling at a large scale has been detected in SMC funds and other heads,” he added.

On availability of textbooks, the education minister said that Sindh was the first province to ensure timely availability of textbooks this year, besides reducing the prices of books by 11 per cent. ‘‘We completed the entire process in a transparent way, inviting tenders from the publishers against the past practice of negotiating with them,” he told.—PPI