KARACHI, April 22: In Sindh 1,834 schools, including 1,615 primary girls schools, have been closed for want of teachers and lack of infrastructure. This information was provided to the Sindh Assembly on Thursday by Provincial Minister for Education Irfanullah Marwat in reply to a question submitted by Ms Nuzhat Pathan.

Mr Marwat said there were over 5,000 closed schools by the year 2000. However, with concerted efforts, the department had been able to make a large number of schools functional through redeployment of teachers and recruitment of 3,500 teachers on a contract basis.

The remaining 1,834 schools were in the process of being operationalized, he aid. He said the number of girls schools was 1,615. These schools were identified in a survey by a third party.

In reply to a question by Ms Saeeda Bano Siddiqui, the minister said it was incorrect to state that a fee was charged from students or they were directed to purchase books at a government primary school in Hingorabad.

On the contrary, he said, no fee was charged from any student, including the said school, and books were distributed free of cost through a committee consisting of assistant district education officer, union council nazim, school management committee and head master/mistress concerned.