Education experts express concern over the ‘worse’ state of government schools in Kemari district

Karachi: People associated with the education sector and educational experts have expressed their concern about the ‘worse condition’ of government schools in Kemari district, saying that 15 of the 216 schools in the district are closed and the buildings of 11 educational institutions are dilapidated. Only 10 percent (39 thousand 57) of the total number of children are enrolled in the district.

Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE) and Workers and Research Organization (WHRO) conducted a focus group discussion on the state of education in Kemari district on the occasion of World Education Week in which people from different walks of life participated. Individuals including local representatives, academics, journalists, NGOs, local community people and other stakeholders participated in the meeting.

Education experts lamented that only 153 primary schools are functioning in the district, which shows poor planning by the government, while lack of infrastructure for higher education makes it difficult for children to pursue higher education. has made

In this regard, it was told that according to Article 25 A of the Constitution of Pakistan, every child between the ages of five and 16 has the right to free and compulsory education. However, the data provided by SEMIS shows that the situation of education system at the government level in Kemari district is very bad.

According to the focus group participants, facilities provided in educational institutions are also not up to standard as only 50 percent of schools have drinking water, 173 have toilets, 156 have electricity and only 81 schools have hand washing facilities.

According to educational experts, a large number of children are dropping out of school due to the non-provision of basic facilities in educational institutions by the provincial government, while the condition of education has become more dire due to poor arrangements and a small number of teachers.

In this regard, it was further informed that the problems of female students of government schools are particularly acute, the lack of adequate washrooms and sanitation facilities for girls is a huge problem. In addition, the absence of special facilities for persons with disabilities such as ramps makes schools inaccessible to them.

According to the meeting participants, SMCs in most schools are dysfunctional, and the funds allocated for them are often misused and unaccounted for.

On this occasion, the participants of the meeting emphasized the need for School Management Committees (SMCs) consisting of principals, teachers, community members and parents and made recommendations to increase Pakistan’s education budget from 2% to 5% while district Kemari’s educational development should be doubled.

In their proposal, the participants said adequate infrastructure including secure buildings with walls, electricity and water, clean and separate bathrooms, adequate furniture, equipment for classrooms, ramps for wheelchair access, functional libraries, science laboratories. , facilities like full staff including sweepers and security guards should be provided while lady health workers and local government representatives should be assisted to ascertain the actual number of out-of-school children and solve the problem.