Balochistan’s Struggle for Excellence in Education

Abdul Shakoor/Umar Khan

Quetta: The education sector in Balochistan confronts formidable challenges despite considerable government spending.

Each child is estimated to incur an annual cost to the government of about Rs 72,000, with roughly Rs 5,625 disbursed per child every month. Nevertheless, despite this investment, educational outcomes continue to be unsatisfactory.

Recently released official data reveals distressing statistics: approximately 0.8 million school-aged children in the province are not enrolled in school, and nearly 1,964 schools suffer from inadequate infrastructure, including inadequate buildings.

Furthermore, half of the 12,000 primary schools in Balochistan operate with just one teacher. Basic facilities such as electricity, water, and washrooms are lacking in many schools, with 11,000 schools lacking electricity, 10,000 lacking water, and 1,800 lacking washroom facilities.

These challenges underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reforms in the education sector to address issues such as access to schooling, infrastructure deficiencies, and teacher shortages.

Simply pouring funds into the system has not yielded the desired results, indicating a need for more effective strategies and governance to ensure quality education for all children in Balochistan.

Approximately 0.8 million school-aged children in Balochistan are not enrolled in school. 

On the other hand, an acute shortage of teachers forced nearly 3,500 schools to close 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 the 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 appointed the district education officers on merit to bring reforms on par with international standards in the education sector.

Nearly 1,964 schools in Balochistan suffer from inadequate infrastructure.

He warned that action would be taken against the secretary of education if any teacher was found absent from his duties, as the province is 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 in Dera Bugti and Musakhail districts.

The school principal would be responsible in the event of a dysfunctional biometric system to ensure the presence of teachers in school.

He emphasized that all efforts should be taken for the uplifting of the education sector to ensure the provision of basic education to the children on their doorsteps.

Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti also ordered the appointment of teachers on a contract basis to meet the shortage of teachers.

About half of the 12,000 primary schools in Balochistan operate with just one teacher. 

It may be recalled that the provincial government has already imposed an educational emergency to reduce the huge number of out-of-school children in the province.

The government is committed to enrolling the maximum number of schoolchildren to raise the literacy rate in the province under its “education emergency initiative”.

Due to the low standard of government schools, lack of basic facilities, and shortage of teachers, parents are not willing to enroll their children in school despite running an enrollment campaign by the authorities in a wide-reaching manner, according to Niamat Ullah, an educationist.

Commenting on the expenses incurred on the education of a child by the government, he said that with such expenses, every child can study at the best private educational institution in the country.

Without enrolling children in schools, it is impossible to increase the literacy rate in the province, he added.

An estimated 11,000 schools lack electricity, 10,000 liters of water, and 1,800 washroom facilities in Balochistan.

Members of the Civil Society have urged the government to take measures to improve the quality of education in the province, as a billion rupees have been spent on the sector.

He said highly qualified teachers should be recruited on merit to overcome the dearth of qualified teachers in the education department.

They called on the authorities to improve the infrastructure of schools, besides providing the missing facilities of boundary walls, classrooms, toilet facilities, and IT labs, and to ensure clean drinking water in schools to improve the standard of education in the province.

The report was released by APP. It is reprodcted by The penPk.com.

All information and facts provided are the sole responsibility of the writer.