Sindh’s education issues remain unresolved in 2024

The long-standing issues of the education sector in Sindh remained unresolved as the year 2024 drew to a close, with some important appointments yet to be made.

The year 2024 was bad for education in Sindh, and was a victim of ad hocism. Textbooks could not be published on time, delaying the start of the academic year from April to August. But the publication of textbooks was further delayed, and students suffered academic losses.

Permanent chairmen, controllers, secretaries and audit officers could not be appointed at eight education boards, causing an extraordinary delay in announcing the results of matriculation and intermediate part-II, while most boards are yet to declare the results of intermediate part-I.

Five universities — namely Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Lyari; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University of Law; Sufi University, Bhit Shah; Larkana University and Sheikh Ayaz University of Law — were deprived of permanent vice chancellors.

The MDCAT paper was leaked for the second consecutive year. The Sindh High Court cancelled the results of the test conducted by Dow University of Health Sciences, and some employees, including the university’s controller, were arrested.

The test was then conducted by IBA Sukkur, and out of the top 100 candidates, only 10 were from Karachi. Majority of the candidates failed the test. At the Sindh Higher Education Commission, the most important positions of executive director and charter

inspection committee chairman remained vacant even in 2024.