SHC seeks child protection authority’s report on helplines for children, anti-beggary drive

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Sindh Child Protection Authority (SCPA) director general (DG) and others to submit a progress report regarding establishment of helplines, development of child protection and management information centers as well as anti-beggary campaign with relevant documents.

The direction came on identical petitions with regard to implementation of education, orphanages and child protection laws in the province.

The SCPA DG filed a report mentioning an action plan for strengthening the working of the authority. He submitted that helplines were being established through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Unicef had also been working with the authority for the development of a management information system for child protection.

He submitted that an anti-beggary campaign had been running in District South, Karachi, since November 1 with the assistance of police and certain children had already been rescued and shifted to a shelter home in Malir. He undertook that the campaign would be continued and extended.

The education secretary submitted that a plan had been prepared to decrease the number of out-of-school children. He submitted that certain schools had been reopened and teachers appointed with further initiatives for upgrading schools. He submitted that the education department’s initiatives were often impeded due to litigation brought before the courts challenging procurements.

A division bench of the SHC comprising Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed observed that the court was concerned principally with the matter of enrolment and attendance of children along with attendance of teachers and administrators.

The high court observed that in the absence of proper measures to ensure the enrolment of students as well as their attendance and that of educators, the expenditure on equipment and infrastructure would be futile.

The secretary submitted that as many as 1,645 teachers had recently been identified as delinquent/absconders and 1,481 show-cause notices had been issued. He added that such proceedings would be finalised by December 31, 2022. He submitted that proceedings had been initiated against 45 ghost employees who were drawing salaries as teachers, but were actually working as journalists.

The SHC directed the education secretary to expeditiously pursue the matters to their logical conclusion in accordance with the law and continue the process of detection to weed out all such transgressors from the system. The bench also asked the education secretary why such delinquency on part of teachers was not detected earlier, and action was taken only after court orders, to which the secretary could not offer proper explanation.

Regarding a court query about modern means used for recording the attendance of students and teachers, the secretary and chief secretary submitted that they were cognisant of such imperatives and acknowledged that a biometric attendance system was the need of the day.