Sindh to get 50 new schools offering Cambridge education

Karachi: To keep in line with the new trends in the education sector, Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to establish 50 new schools in the province which will offer the Cambridge system of education.
The decision was taken on Friday at the CM House where Shah presided over a meeting to review the progress of the umbrella schemes in the province. Minister for Works & Services Imdad Pitafi, Planning and Development Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput and School Education Secretary Iqbal Durrani attended the meeting along with several other officials.
In the public sector, the education standards have deteriorated because of a multitude of reasons such as teaching staff’s lack of interest, lack of capacity building as well as non-availability of basic facilities, said Shah.
“Now, not only do we have to address all these issues but we also have to introduce new trends in the education system,” the CM added.
He directed School Education Secretary Iqbal Durani to start 50 new schools across Sindh which will offer the Cambridge system of education more popularly known as O-Levels. “I want you to prepare a detailed policy under which the qualification and selection of teachers for new schools, procedure of admission, test of admission, uniform and details of facilities are mentioned,” he told the secretary.
He added that he will hold a separate meeting to finalise and approve the teachers’ qualifications requirements, selection procedure as well as students’ admission procedure.
Even though the provincial government spends a considerable chunk of its budget on education, yet it has remained unsuccessful in reaping the fruits of this spending, he said.
“This is why I want to improve the standard of education in public sector,” Shah added. “I want to prepare a new lot right from nursery to O-Levels.”
He told the secretary that he was keen on starting these new schools from April 2018, therefore, necessary arrangements should be made accordingly.
Moreover, P&D Chairman Waseem briefed the CM on the progress of the various umbrella schemes (a major scheme under which similar smaller schemes are launched). He said that with the slow release of funds, it has become difficult to start work on the projects or to keep them running.
Shah directed the chairman to call a special meeting of all relevant departments to sort out all issues with the schemes.
The officials pointed out some umbrella schemes that have been in the works since 2006. The CM then said that the ones whose funds have not been utilised may be dropped while others with funding should continue and be completed with new arrangements worked out with the P&D and other departments.
Separately, CM Shah also met the Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan Perry Calderwood and congratulated him on the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada.
They discussed investment opportunities in Sindh and also agreed to work together to improve the province’s education sector with measures such as capacity building of teachers.