RAHIM YAR KHAN: The government schools in Rahim Yar Khan district are facing an acute shortage of teachers, making it the most vulnerable district in Punjab in terms of teacher scarcity (27 per cent).

According to the School Information System (SIS) of the Punjab School Education Department (SED) website, updated on April 10, 2024, the total enrolled student count in the province stands at 10.906 million (10,906,473). Of these, 5.544m (50.84 per cent) are girls, 5.360m (49.15pc) are boys and 1,252 (0.01pc) others.

Punjab’s schools have a total of 450,567 teacher positions, out of which 329,754 are filled, leaving 120,813 seats vacant. The breakdown of teacher categories comprises 178,209 (53.65pc) PST/ESE, 103,680 (31.21pc) EST/SESE, 43,861 (13.2pc) SST/SSE, and 6,432 (1.94pc) others. There are 48,505 schools in Punjab, including 32,357 (66.71pc) primary, 7,224 (14.89pc) middle, 8,081 (16.66pc) high, and 843 (1.74pc) higher secondary schools.

In the three divisions of south Punjab, the total student population is 3.643m (3,643,912), with Multan having 1.254m (1,254,820) students, Bahawalpur 1.3m (1,300,260), and Dera Ghazi Khan 1.088m (1,088,832).

However, a comparison of teacher shortages across districts within these divisions reveals unsatisfactory numbers. For instance, in Multan, out of 13,723 teacher positions, 10,283 are filled, leaving 3,440 vacant. In Khanewal, out of total 13,496 posts, 9,281 are filled and 4,188 are vacant. In Vehari, of 12,366 posts, 9,146 are filled while 3,220 are vacant. In Lodhran, of 6,722 posts, 4880 are filled while 1,842 are vacant. In Muzaffrgarh, of 13,956 post, 10,524 are filled while 3,432 are vacant. In Dera Ghazi Khan, total sanctioned posts of teachers are 11,707 and 8,456 are filled while 3251 are vacant. In Layyah, there are total 10,586 posts in which 8,336 are filled while 2,250 are vacant. Rajanpur has 7,407 posts with 5,367 filled and 2,040 vacant. In Bahawalpur, total posts are 14,560 and 10,906 are filled while 3,654 are vacant. In Bahawalnagar, there are total 16,447 posts and 11,930 filled while 4,517 are vacant.

Rahim Yar Khan, with the highest number of schools, faces a critical shortage of teachers. Out of 20,153 teacher positions, only 14,785 are filled, leaving 5,368 vacant. This data from SIS indicates a 27pc shortage of teachers in Rahim Yar Khan, the highest among all districts.

Rana Shahbaz Safdar, president of the South Punjab Teachers Union, warns that if the Punjab government does not address the issue promptly by recruiting new teachers, the shortage will worsen, severely impacting the quality of education. He calls for increase in the education budget.

When contacted, Secretary SED Punjab Dr Ehtasham Anwar’s cell phone was out of access. Section Officer SED Akif Nadeem too was not available for the stance.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024