Moalims

Visionless leadership, paired with weak commitment, causes problems instead of bringing about any improvements. Apparently, marginal and peripheral issues have taken top priority in the Education and Literacy Department of the Sindh government. The ongoing unnecessary confrontation between the education secretary, and the Primary Teachers’ Association (PTA) and the Sindh Education Employees Alliance (SEEA) shows that both parties have caught each other on the wrong foot. The education secretary claims that he is committed to getting rid of fake, irregular and incompetent teachers, who have sneaked into the system. He alleges that these teachers are interested in everything on earth except teaching. Hence, he considers them enemies of the children of the province. In this connection, for the first time, he, with support from the chief minister and the Minister for Education, has rolled out a bio-metrics verification system for all teachers across the province.

More than 70 per cent of the assignment has been successfully accomplished, which has obviously hurt vested interests amongst the teacher fraternity because a significant portion of teacher salaries have been temporarily stopped due to inadequate or non-verification of documents that prove that their appointments were genuine. However, it has been observed that there are improper arrangements at bio-metric verification centres across the province, with teachers being forced to come to these from far-flung areas. Female teachers in particular have faced a lot of problems, some of them complaining that they had to grease the palms of the staff to get themselves registered in the system. The education secretary must look into these complaints.

The PTA and the SEEA protests should be seen in this backdrop. The two bodies are venting their anger and demanding removal of the education secretary. Another main demand of the teachers is payment of salaries, although it appears that they are more worried about losing their jobs than being paid. They foresee the noose being tightened around their necks, even if no teacher has been dismissed so far as a result of the bio-metric verification. Resolution of the conflict between the secretary and teachers can be easy if the latter are taken into confidence without converting the whole issue into an ‘ego’ problem. The legitimate concerns of the teachers must be addressed as they remain key stakeholders.

Putting all the blame on teachers for the downfall of education in Sindh would be unfair. A cursory look at the “Sindh Education Profile 2014-15”, a document launched by the Minister of Education and the secretary a few days ago, will demonstrate that teachers are not solely responsible for the mess. The profile indicates that there are 7,179 schools, including primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary ones, without buildings. In terms of condition of school buildings, only 29 per cent of schools have been declared satisfactory, while 41 per cent need repair and 13 per cent have been termed dangerous. In terms of availability of drinking water, 51 per cent of schools don’t have this facility. Moreover, with respect to the quality of drinking water, the less said the better. In rural areas, ground water has become brackish.

Around 46 per cent of schools are without washrooms. Of these, 28 per cent are co-education schools, while 11 per cent are all-boys, and seven per cent all-girls. Moreover, 62 per cent of schools don’t have electricity. Imagine the condition of students, teachers and staff in these schools in areas where temperatures usually remains above 40 degree centigrade during the summer season. Further, 83 per cent of schools are without playgrounds. So, can teaching and learning take place in this environment? When parents are not willing to send their children to school, how can we blame teachers for not attending classes? Who is responsible for not providing basic facilities? Is it the teachers? Not at all. The Sindh government cannot absolve itself from its share of the blame. Actions against irregular, fake and absent teachers are most welcome but the government must put its house in order and get its priorities right. No one is asking for the moon here; only that all schools must be equipped with basic facilities. Is this that big a demand?