KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday announced revising the Teacher Recruitment Policy 2021 to make the remaining 4,250 non-functional schools in the province functional.
The chief executive also announced reducing the pass mark to 40 per cent for all the candidates who had appeared in the test for the selection of schoolteachers so that the shortage of teachers could be met.
The earlier teacher recruitment policy was based on union councils, and now it has been made at Taluka level, so all the candidates who have scored at least 40 per cent on the recruitment test will be recruited, subject to the availability of the teaching posts in the relevant Talukas.
Shah made these announcements during a news conference at the CM House, where he said that the main purpose of the recruitment policy was to provide teachers to schools and prevent the education system from decay, as thousands of viable schools had become non-functional due to an acute shortage of teachers.
“Presently, 54,000 posts of teachers, including 36,000 primary schoolteachers and 18,000 junior elementary schoolteachers are lying vacant throughout the province. Keeping in view the dire need of teachers, and their urgent induction and training, the provisions of the Teachers Recruitment Policy 2021 need to be relaxed or amended.”
The CM said that 6,783 viable schools remained closed due to the unavailability of teachers. “Through the current recruitment process, 2,533 schools have been reopened, but 4,250 are still without teachers.”
Therefore, he said, it has become exigent to revise the Teacher Recruitment Policy 2021 and reduce the pass mark from 55 per cent for male Muslims and 50 per cent for female and minority candidates to 40 per cent for all candidates to meet the shortage of teachers. He clarified that for the differently abled candidates and the remote areas of the province, the pass mark would continue to remain 33 per cent as before. He said that even after lowering the pass mark to 40 per cent, 18 Talukas would still be deficient in teachers.
“The candidates who scored less than 40 per cent in these 18 deprived Talukas of different districts will be given the opportunity to attend special courses and pass a test to be conducted by a third party for their recruitment.”
Shah said that after the revision of the policy, more than 50,000 teachers would be recruited to make all the closed primary and secondary schools in Sindh functional.
Law and order: Talking about the recent wave of terrorism in which three attacks have taken place in the city within a month, the CM said law and order is under control in the province, but anti-social and anti-state elements have started creating unrest. “But we will not allow them to achieve their nefarious designs.”
He said that when the Bolton Market incident took place, he was in Abu Dhabi with Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to offer his condolences over the death of the ruler of the UAE.
“I cut my visit short and rushed back to Karachi,” he said, and added that upon reaching the city at around 1:15am, he held an emergency meeting with the police officers concerned.
He said he has told the police that it was an intelligence failure, and that three sabotage incidents had taken place in the city one after the other. He asked that when a terrorist carrying a bag had entered the University of Karachi, why that bag had not been checked.
He also said the police would sensitise citizens to call and inform the 15 helpline whenever they witness any suspicious activity. “The police will talk to shopkeepers in markets to keep proper vigilance in their parking lots and install their private CCTV camera systems.”
Water shortage: Talking about water shortage, the CM said that no doubt, there is a shortage of water in the river system, but “the problem we are facing is related to the distribution of water”. He added that his government has serious reservations against the Indus River System Authority.
He said the provinces were told that there would be an eight per cent shortage of water during the Kharif season, and that in the early Kharif season, Sindh and Punjab would face 22 per cent and 13 per cent shortage respectively, but the shortage should be equal in both provinces.
He also said that in April, Sindh had faced 42 per cent water shortage, and if 10 days of May were added, the shortage of water would increase to 51 per cent in the province.
Shah said that on Tuesday the Indus River had 89,800 cusecs inflow at Tarbela, while last year it was recorded at 60,400 cusecs, which means that there was 29,400 cusecs more water this year, but even so Sindh was facing more shortage than last year.
The CM said that Taunsa is the last barrage of Punjab, and Guddu is the first barrage of Sindh, adding that when the water inflows at Taunsa was recorded recently, it was 66,000 cusecs, but when it reached Guddu, it had come down to 38,000 cusecs.
“This means water was taken away before reaching Sindh,” he said, and added that he is going to Islamabad on Wednesday (today) to meet the prime minister with the request to settle the water distribution issue.