SMIU think tank proposes commission for school education in Sindh

A four member committee of scholars of Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) has suggested to the Sindh government to form a commission for school education on the pattern of the Higher Education Commission to improve primary education the province.

The committee’s recommendations came under discussion at the sixth meeting of the varsity’s academic council. The SMIU scholars also advised the provincial government to hand all the examination boards, Sindh Textbook Board, curriculum development bureaus and other relevant bodies over to the proposed school education commission.

Addressing the academic council, SMIU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said two departments – school education and college education departments – are currently managing the affairs of primary and intermediate level education in the province. Both the deparments are headed by their own secretaries who are assisted by other officers of general cadre. However, due to frequent transfers, higher bureaucrats working in the education department are unable to acquire in-depth knowledge of the education sector, the VC lamented.

Dr Shaikh was of the view that due to the fragmented nature of the education ministry in Sindh, curriculum development, preparation of textbooks, examinations, teachers’ appointments and training and other related jobs are being carried out by different bodies with no coordination among them.

“The proposed commission should be headed by a chairman, who should be an educationist, preferably with a Ph.D., having vision and adequate experience in the field of education,” the VC said, adding that the commission may also establish various specialised wings to focus on capacity building and training of teachers, curriculum development and textbook publication, examination and evaluation, infrastructural and physical facilities, enrolment enhancement, and affairs of private schools and madressahs.

The SMIU committee also proposed that the management of schools be entrusted to local governments, while the commission function as facilitator in vital areas of education including monitoring and evaluation of the institutions.

According to Dr Shaikh, the new management system will benefit all students of Sindh especially those belonging to underprivileged groups. The VC bemoaned the fact that the ratio of out-of-school children in Sindh is around 52 per cent, which is higher than that of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.