KARACHI, Aug 27: Sindh Education Minister Dr Hamida Khuhro has asked officials of her department to make all out efforts for provision of free textbooks and other facilities to the students recently enrolled in primary schools of public sector. A large number of children has been enrolled across the province during the department’s Enrolment Month Drive, launched a few months ago.

Presiding over a high-level meeting of the department on Saturday, the minister said that accommodating the new children in the existing infrastructure and providing them with free textbooks on an urgent basis was a big challenge to the department.

She directed chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board to make arrangements for the publication and availability of textbooks to the new students within a month.

She also called for recruitment of teachers on an ad hoc basis wherever required, even by utilizing the School Management Committee fund until the required teachers were made available on a regular basis.

Dr Khuhro impressed upon EDOs to have holistic approach of education and work on war-footing to fill the gaps. She noted that during the ongoing enrolment drive, 30 to 40 per cent, and in some districts even 50 per cent, of more than 3.5 million drop-out children had been re-enrolled.

Education Secretary Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha told the meeting that the EDOs and other officials showing extraordinary performance would be given awards and those found negligent would be removed.

Ms Raana Sayed of Unicef appreciated the department’s performance and congratulated Dr Hamida Khuhro on her successful efforts towards promotion of literacy. She assured her of Unicef’s full support in this regard.

Those who attended the meeting were Sindh Special Secretary Education Iqbal Durrani, Additional Secretaries Dr Mehboob Shaikh, Tufail Ahmed Jumani, Dr Shama Roza Jumani, Dr Nawaz Shaikh, Fatah Tunio, Chairman STB Prof Aziz Mehranvi, Prof Ilyas Soomro, Abdul Latif Siddiqui and EDOs education from various districts of Sindh.—-PPI