Sindh School Drive-2019 “Get Education to Move Forward”

By: Azhar Azad Mughal

The Sindh Education & Literacy Department,Govt of Sindh in collaboration with UNICEF has officially kicked off enrollment drive and it is in full swing in various parts of Sindh aiming at admitting as many out of school children as possible in order to make Sindh literate.The slogan introduced by the department “Get Education to Move Forward” is really fascinating and attractive that requires all of us to utilise all of our energies, available resources and make every possible serious effort to transform long-cherished dream of literate and educated Sindh into reality.

At present 52 percent children of Sindh are claimed to be out of school the responsibility of whose inclusion lies on our collective efforts and consciousness without which sustainable development goals are impossible to achieve.This is not an individual task or govt’s headache but rather collective cause that badly needs to be pursued with commitment,dedication,honesty of purpose,seriousness and sincerity.The figure of six million out of school children is really a great challenge for the stake holders the successful execution of which would certainly yield to fruitful results in the long term.The low literacy rate in the country despite lapse of 70 years’ of our independence shows our apathy and negligence on our part.

What are the reasons behind low literary rates due to which we have lagged behind in each and every discipline and field of life and have entirely failed to cope with the challenges ahead of us.We,as a nation, are not in position to compete with other nations of the world.In one of the reports about out of school children under heading ‘ Pakistan Has the 2nd Most Out-of-School Children in the World ‘it was shockingly revealed in 2017 that Punjab,the largest province in terms of population,has 9.2 million population of its children is out of govt-run-schools second to African country Nigeria around the world.The inclusion of article 25 in the constitution of the country makes it mandatory to ensure access of education as one’s birth and democratic right to all irrespective of caste, colour,creed and ethnicity.The drastic and pragmatic measures are badly needed to be adopted by the federal as well as provincial govts in Pakistan above lip-service and rhetoric.

Pakistan, in the light of the rankings of UNICEF,was placed 2nd in the category of most out of school children after Nigeria throughout the world which shows dismal and unsatisfactory performance on the part of successive governments.

There is no exaggeration in it to mention here that Sindh Education & Literacy department has taken a no of revolutionary initiatives and measures in connection with promotion of education including distribution of free books to the public sector students from class 1 to class XII,girl students are provided annual stipends to encourage their education and schooling,the students belonging to classes IX to XII have been exempted from paying enrolment and examination fees,recruitment of teachers through third party since 2001 on purely merit basis are widely welcome, applauded and highly appreciated.

No doubt , no nation can make visible and rapid progress without attaching importance and weight to education.It is always considered to be strong agent of change,reformation and revolution in society.Unless and until it is given due significance and top priority keeping in view the bright future of our nation and generations by concerned quarters,we will not be able to bring our nation on the path of progress and prosperity but rather lag behind in each and every field and discipline of life in the comity of nations.Those countries that got independence after us are ahead of us and stepping forward with pride and heads high because they attached the first priority and preference to education.For example, Bangladesh,once part of our country,China,our neighbouring country which tasted the fruit of freedom in 1949,Sri Lanka and others are advancing and working wonders with each passing day.Their literacy rates are varying but inspiring and encouraging in comparison to that of ours because of their active part and honest leadership that contributed a lot to the welfare and betterment of their subjects.
Startling and shocking statistics reveal that our beloved country’s 23 million children are said to be out of schools out of which 6 million children belong to Sindh and literacy rate of our country is not up to the mark and expectation owing to flawed,ill-advised policies,lack of will and apathy on the part of successive governments to implement its policies in letter and spirit in larger interests of the country.
Only the rhetoric and lip-service can not bring about any real change but it is the pragmatic approach that matters the most and counts in real sense.I went through somewhere that ” everybody wants to go to heaven but no body wants to die.”Practical measures are desperately needed to be taken for yielding to fruitful results.We can only lay the foundations of change when every one of us truly tries to play his/her positive and healthy part in his/her capacity for promotion and provision of quality education to our future generations.It is really a tedious and herculean task to accomplish that requires us sacrifice and a little sincere effort to be taken for our families’ sake,our generations’ sake,our nation’s sake and for our beloved country’s sake, and it should not be taken granted.It is not an individual assignment but collective cause for which all of us have to sacrifice our energies and valuable time to this long-cherished dream of educated and prosperous Sindh come true.

Illuminating and equipping our students with right kind of education that could enable our students to stand on their feet and help make them stable economically,develop their traits of characterisation,inculcate moral and social values, respect and regard for diversity,create awareness among them about great ideals and values of human rights,justice,fair play, equality,tolerance,enable them to abide by the law of the land,pave the way for co-existence,mutual harmony.
Only teacher should not be the target for all the ills of society.What role has been played by our so-called civil society for ensuring missing facilities in the centres of learning(educational institutions) for whose availability the teachers have been crying since long?
There is no iota of doubt that four fingers are not equal,there may be black sheepin teaching staff but by whom were they appointed?
Only teaching community should not be held responsible and targeted for deteriorating standard of education.
The civil society has every right to hurl criticism on teachers’ fraternity and finding fault with them in connection with their irresponsible and careless part in providing education to the future generations but at the same time it is their moral duty to point out the missing facilities in the schools due to which the students are suffering. Has any voice regarding missing facilities like washrooms, unavailability of solar system,lack of furniture been raised by those who clamour and make fuss against teachers?
Not to mention of provision of modern day equipments and facilities,even students lack roofs over their heads under the rays of scorching sun which shows numbness and apathy of the concerned quarters.

The frequent load shedding due to energy crisis in the country has made the matters worse and have affected the studies of our students badly in presence of rising temperature.The tenders were released in 2017 by govt for the purpose of installation of solar system in public sector schools in Sindhi for mitigating the sufferings of students but nothing conclusive and concrete has taken so far despite lapse of two years.
Despite rise in the temperature with each passing day and heat wave in the month of July, teachers are found busy in delivering lectures and imparting knowledge of their respective disciplines with professional zeal and enthusiasm.

The federal and provincial govts are requested to give topmost priority to education by providing missing facilities to the students of govt-run schools for they are great asset of our nation and country,who would run the affairs of the state institutions efficiently,justly and properly in case they are secure and equipped with quality education in the presence of facilities required.