Call for monitoring mechanism to check spending on education

HYDERABAD: Education activists, government officials, teachers and political activists linked poverty to the collapsed education system in Sindh rural areas and put up a demand to allocate more for the education sector and initiate a monitoring mechanism for checking spending to restore the damages to the culture of learning.
They were speaking at a seminar on ‘Vote for Education’ related to Global Action Week-2015, organised by the Sindh Health Education and Enterprise Organisation (SHEEDO) in collaboration with Action Aid Pakistan at a Law College Auditorium Hala New, Matiari District.
The program was to review the status of the education system in Matiari District, which is ranked 13th in education infrastructure and quality out of 24 districts of Sindh.They said parents in rural areas, facing poverty usually engage their children to help them in rearing animals or working in the fields.
The people have lost hope after losing their traditional source of income. Hence, the expenditures were invisible and unable to show outcomes in case of improvement of enrollment, providing missing facilities and improvement in the quality of education.
The speakers made many allegations to elected parliamentarians and others, who never turn up to see the educational institutes in their respective constituencies or extend a helping hand for their betterment.
Muhammad Habib, the author of four books on technical education, computer literacy and literature, summing up the discussion, said that poverty was the main reason for improper enrollment and the increasing ratio of drop outs.
He said that the political leadership, especially those elected from the area, should own the schools where from they themselves got education long ago and now the same are neglected.Muhammad Habib is the principal of the Institute of Commercial Education at Hala New. He said “despite the gloomy picture of education infrastructure, we must not lose hope and be optimistic because it is the responsibility that we have to adopt to play our own role for the cause, as these children are our future builders”.
Rehmatullah Balal, a local activist associated with Alif Ailan, said that only 42 percent children are enrolled in village schools but out of the same only 50 percent appear in the matriculation examination and the rest stay out. This is the same picture in the entire Sindh province. But, he said the situation of Matiari district is exceptional in terms of lack of ownership by government, parliamentarians, teachers and community. Balal said only a few parents from rural villages get enrolled their children in private schools while a majority of the people cannot afford the burden of fees and other expenses.
There is a large number of government schools in villages which have been turned in to baithaks and not a single student comes there. Teachers appointed there are drawing salaries monthly, because there is no monitoring mechanism on the part of government institutions.
Abid Bughio, Education Officer appreciated the efforts for improving education system, saying this may bear fruits for the entire society. Being an education officer he realised the pressures for posting and transfers of teachers from different levels.
Earlier, Asif Khaskheli of SHEEDO briefed on the objectives of the event and presented overall situation of education in Matiari and discussed the MDG, which the government despite claims could not achieve.