KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani on Friday said some 37,000 teachers were required for government-run schools in the province and the government would make recruitment in phases on merit.

“We have already taken measures to recruit competent teachers on merit to make our schools efficient,” he said while speaking to reporters after visiting government schools in Rehri Goth and Lath Basti.

Mr Ghani said his department was facing a huge demand to provide the required number of teachers in more than 40,000 schools in the province.

“We’ll fill in such gaps in phases,” he said, adding, “in the first phase, we are recruiting some 12,000 teachers while the remaining teachers would be hired in another two phases in future.”

Saeed Ghani pays a visit to a govt school where the roof of a room caved in a day before

Minister Ghani said some 9,000 government schools in the province had recorded 80 per cent enrolment and “it is our priority to make them model schools”.

He conceded that his department had received complaints about absence of required furniture in many schools while the number of those schools where furniture had become worn out was also disturbing.

He said a committee that surveyed the government schools had made certain recommendations, which included provision of furniture to such schools.

“We are trying our level best and we have planned to overcome this problem in the coming six months,” said the minister.

However, he added, the schools showing 80pc enrolment would be top on the education department’s priorities. “We’ll first remove all sorts of problems of the 9,000 schools, which show 80pc enrolment in Sindh.”

Earlier, Mr Ghani visited the Government Primary School Mohammad Amin Jat in Rehri Goth where the roof of a room had collapsed a day earlier.

The minister visited the school and thanked the Almighty for no loss of life in the incident.

He immediately issued instructions to the district education officer concerned for inspection of the said school through works and services department.

He visited all rooms of the school and thoroughly inspected the building.

Mr Ghani said the number of children in the school required provision of more rooms, which would be built along with repairs and maintenance of the roof.

The minister also visited other primary and secondary schools in Rehri Goth. Besides, he visited a number of public schools located in the neighbouring Lath Basti and saw teachers taking classes.

The minister sat down with children in a school and asked questions concerning the curriculum being taught to them.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2020