NAWABSHAH, Jan 1: Members of the Nawabshah District Council has criticized the poor performance of the district education department.

Convener Khalid Hussain presided over the meeting.

Union Council Nazim Manzoor Ahmad Soomro said 200 schools were lying closed in the district and the education department had failed to make them functional.

He regretted that students of class 6 and 8 were not being paid a scholarship of Rs100 each announced by the Sindh government.

Riaz Zardari of the Jamal Shah Union Council said out of 65 schools in his union council, 27 were lying closed. He said he had been complaining to the EDO, education, but to no avail.

He further said there was only one teacher for 248 students in the Dorai Mehar Primary School and the Mir Hassan Zardari Primary School. He claimed that no official had visited these schools for eight years.

He said funds of school management committees had lapsed due to inefficiency of officials concerned.

Hanif Chandio said there was no teacher in a school in the Thatt Union Council for a long time.

The district officer, education, Abdul Malik Lakhmir, briefed the session about the Education For All Programme, 2004-05.

He said the government had launched the programme with the help of donor agencies. He said the district education department had also made a plan which would be implemented after approval from the district council.

The members asked the convener to call the assistant election commissioner or other representative of the commission to brief the council about the voters' list.

Feroze Unnar criticized the forest department for not taking any action against illegal wood cutting. He also criticized the district forest officer for not attending the session. He said the convener should write to the forest secretary to take notice of the illegal wood cutting.