News
Monday, September 30, 2013
Political involvement behind dismal state of education in TharStaff Report
KARACHI: Education, which is the only ray of hope for emancipation of depressed and deprived people of Thar Desert, continues to remain in a dismal state because of the rampant political involvement in its education system.
The establishment of arid agriculture university and issuing of special quota to Thari students in technical universities was urged by educationists and activists of Thar while speaking at a seminar titled, “Status of Education and Future of Thar” organised by AWARE, a civil society organisation on Sunday.
Fakir Umeed Ali Nohri, district education officer (Elementary) said that because of political intervention by elected representatives, the education department is unable to impart quality education in Thar. He shared instances when teachers were found to be absent from schools for up to four months; yet were receiving their salaries, and got no punishment because of political influence.
“Uneducated Tharis are easily deprived of their rights, and that is why they (politicians) don’t educate them,” said Gotam Rathi, a veteran social activist of the area.
Fatima Saud, a woman activist was of the view that since Tharis hardly make their ends meet, they don’t really bother about education. “Meeting the basic needs is more important than getting the right of quality education,” said Fatima.
Writer and activist Ali Akbar Rahimoo highlighted the role of political representatives in the education of Thar, demanding to end their interference once and for all.
He cited that out of 22,1203 children enrolled in primary to higher secondary level, only 374 children reached up to the Intermediate level against 15,793 in class five, and 3,573 in matriculation. “This shows a very low transition rate of children from primary to matriculation and intermediate in Tharparkar. Only 2% of the students enrolled at primary schools reach up to the graduation/university level,” he said.
Jan Mohammad Samoo, a researcher shared statistics on schools to teachers ratio, and said that for about 607 girls primary schools in Tharparkar, there are only 568 female teachers. On top of that, about 180 teachers have no formal training in teaching. Moreover, out of 607 girls’ primary schools, 282 are shelter-less; 229 have no boundary wall, and 189 do not have drinking water. “This pathetic condition leads to a very poor condition of girls’ primary education in the district,” he said.
Mohammad Sharif Rahimoo also criticised the quality of education in Tharparkar, and quoted a recent research that 37 percent of class one students in Thar could read only letters in Sindhi; whereas, only 1.6 percent of them could read simple sentences in Sindhi language.
Veteran poet and educationist Haleem Baghi, Kale Khan Bajeer, Noor Mohammad Nohri, Haji Jeearo Saund, Keshav Lal and others also spoke.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk