445 govt teachers, 201 private candidates clear Teaching Licence Test

HYDERABAD: The SIBA Testing Services (STS) has officially announced the results of the Teaching Licence Test, which was held on January 28, 2024, under the recently approved Sindh Teaching Licence Policy 2023.

Following the announcement of the test results, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah issued a statement in which he reaffirmed his dedication to advancing education in the province.

He stated that the Sindh government would continue making serious efforts to formulate policies for improving the state of education in Sindh and implementing them.

A total of 3,023 in-service government teachers took the test, of whom 445 passed making a pass percentage of 14.7 per cent. A total of 977 private candidates also took this test, of whom 201 (20.6 per cent) cleared it.

The Sindh government teachers who have secured the licence would be eligible for promotion into BPS-16 teaching posts while successful candidates from the private sector would be eligible for appointment to BPS-16 posts, subject to the Sindh Public Service Commission rules.

Furthermore, the Sindh education department is considering an additional professional allowance for senior government teachers, who are already serving at BPS-16 and higher, and have secured the teaching licence.

To accommodate the newly licenced teachers, the Sindh government has approved the creation of 700 new elementary school teachers posts (eligible to teach grades 1-8) at BPS-16. Previously, junior elementary school teachers (JEST) were being inducted at BPS-14 and were required to have completed graduation in any field.

These new 700 vacancies would be reserved for only elementary school teachers with the licence.

The Karachi region had the highest passing percentage in the in-service government teacher category at 31 per cent as 95 candidates of the 305 in-service government teachers from Karachi who took the test cleared it. From the Hyderabad region, 49 of 301 candidates (16 per cent) passed the test and from the Sukkur region, 107 of 706 candidates (15 per cent) passed.

The Karachi region also had the highest passing percentage in the private sector teacher category at 53 per cent with 79 of 150 privates candidates passing the test. Karachi was followed by the Sukkur region with 26 per cent (59 of 228 passed the test) and Larkana region with 16 per cent (44 of 271 passed the test).

Overall, Karachi, Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, and Bhanbhore regions produced 174, 166, 135, 69, 58, 38 and 6 successful candidates respectively.

The Sindh Teacher Education Development Authority is already planning to expand the licensing regime next year to include other licence categories such as the primary and secondary teaching licences.