DERA GHAZI KHAN: After class nine results with a low pass percentage upset candidates, parents and school administration this year, teachers have proposed ways to raise the standard of learning in Dera Ghazi Khan schools.

In all, 97,744 students sat the exams, and of them, candidates from Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur passed with percentages of 46.99, 56.61, 45.81 and 41.79, respectively. This results in a total 49.83pc pass percentage.

Data indicates that the results in the 2022 exams were poorer from prior years. For instance, the pass rate in 2017 was 55.40pc, in 2018 it was 59.32pc, in 2019 it was 56.96pc, and in 2020 it was 99.43pc.

Punjab Association of Subject Specialist Teachers District president Abdul Aziz Baloch said the recent results underscored the need to overcome shortcomings in the education policy by improving the performance of government schools.

Mr Baloch told Dawn that public school teachers should be restricted from giving tuition at private academies.

“The teachers who teach at private academies do not take an interest in imparting education in classrooms,” he said.

“The shortage of teaching staff is another factor behind the poor percentage in the class nine results. In the last five years, there has been no recruitment of teachers while online transfer policies have created an imbalance in the availability of teachers at schools in rural locations.”

The online transfer policy does not consider the number of teachers in a specific school and, given the teachers’ tendency to get posted in urban locations, has affected rural schools.

Mr Baloch said assignments for teachers other than classroom work also affected their performance.

All Pakistan Private Schools Association Chairman Ziaullah Qureshi told Dawn that public school teachers were burdened with extra duties, and for this reason, they could not teach properly. He said that recently, teachers were engaged in the plantation of trees on school premises.

A senior teacher of a public school, however, blamed teachers for the poor results, saying there should be a result-driven promotion and increment system for teachers.

He said the poor performance of government schools was due to a poor in-house assessment system under which regular tests, summer camps and remedial classes for slow learners had been abolished. He said subject specialists should be restricted to marking papers as they pass the task on to junior teachers. An examiner is paid Rs25 per paper’s marking, which is insufficient.

He said another reason for the poor performance of government schools was the low attendance of students. After getting admission to government schools, students skip classrooms and prefer to attend academies.

Education Chief Executive Officer Zulfiqar Malghani told Dawn the department would emphasise the subject-wise performance of government teachers to improve their performance.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2022