At least Rs 5,625 is being spent on single children monthly in Balochistan to provide education as the government is spending a huge amount of the public exchequer on the education sector with low outcomes. “It costs around Rs 72,000 per child to a government in a year, said the education department officials.
Despite spending millions of rupees in the education sector by the government, the statistics of out-of-school children, ghost teachers and ghost schools, yet paint a grim picture. As per official data, about 0.8 million children of school-going age are out of school in the province, and some 1,964 schools have no building. Half of the total 12,000 Primary schools in Balochistan have one teacher. Likewise, 11,000 schools do not have electricity, 10,000 do not have water and 1,800 do not have washroom facilities.
On the other hand, an acute shortage of teachers forced nearly 3,500 schools to shut during the last couple of months, an official of the education department said. “The provincial Education Department has been facing an acute shortage of teachers. Due to political and departmental constraints, the department has not been able to recruit teachers since 2019. Moreover, over 300 teachers are retiring every month,” the official further said.
However, the bleak picture of the education sector has clinched the attention of the newly-elect CM Balochistan who soon after the launch of a crackdown against the mafia in the health sector, took serious notice of the education mess. CM Bugti ordered to sacking of around 2,000 ghost teachers from their jobs and directed the Chief Secretary to submit a report on the dismissal of habitually absent teachers in two months.
He stressed that there would be no interference in the education department and appoint the district education officers on merit to bring reforms at par with international standards in the education sector. He warned that action would be taken against the secretary education department if any teacher was found absent from his duties as the province also facing a shortage of teachers.
The chief minister directed the education department to install the biometric system in schools for teachers’ attendance and start the polite project from Dera Bugti and Musakhail districts. The school principal would be responsible in case of a dysfunctional biometric system to ensure the presence of teachers in school.—APP
