KARACHI: Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah on Thursday directed the education department to present a clear and comprehensive strategy to ensure early resolution of the issue of candidates awaiting teaching positions across the province.

Presiding over the meeting of the assembly’s Special Committee on Awaiting Candidates in the Education Department, he said that all data relating to the awaiting candidates for the posts of primary school teachers (PST) and junior elementary school teachers (JEST) would be thoroughly reviewed by the next meeting of the committee.

However, he added that there will be “no compromise on the quality of education.”

The Sindh Assembly had constituted a special committee to address the issue of awaiting candidates in the education department.

The meeting was attended by Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Opposition Leader Ali Khurshidi, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, MPA Jameel Soomro, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Tanzeela Umm-e-Habiba, MPA Shabbir Qureshi, and MPA Muhammad Rashid Khan.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Assembly Secretary G.M. Umar Farooq, Education and Literacy Secretary Zahid Ali Abbasi, and other department officials.

The education department gave a detailed briefing on awaiting candidates for teaching positions across Sindh, including the status of PST and JEST recruitments.

It was informed that a large-scale recruitment drive had previously been conducted, under which approximately 93,000 primary and junior school teachers were recruited purely on merit, making it “one of the largest and most transparent recruitment drives in Pakistan’s history.”

The committee was further informed about the number of remaining vacancies and candidates on the waiting list. Detailed discussions were held on the social impact of delays in recruitment, as well as the administrative and technical aspects required to complete the process.

Addressing the meeting, the speaker said that the recruitment of 93,000 teachers “on merit was a historic achievement” of the provincial government. “We have been fully briefed on the available vacancies and candidates on the waiting list,” he said, adding that by the next meeting, all data would be thoroughly reviewed.

It was decided that the next meeting of the special committee would be held after two weeks to make a final decision in light of suggestions from all stakeholders.

The speaker said that this was the first time such a committee had been formed with representation from all political parties, and expressed confidence that this initiative would prove to be an effective and positive precedent in promoting merit and transparency within the education department.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2026