Agreement signed to run 20 USAID-build schools in Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh Government and Education Management Organisations (SEMOs) have signed an agreement to operate 20 schools constructed under USAID Sindh basic Education Programme.

Under the agreements Sukkur IBA University will manage nine newly constructed schools and 17 priority schools under district package - Sukkur and Larkana. TCF will manage 11 newly constructed schools and eight priority schools under district package of Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Mission Director for Sindh and Balochistan, John Smith-Sreen, Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, witnessed the signing ceremony of concession agreements between Government of Sindh and Education Management Organizations (EMOs) to manage newly constructed schools under USAID Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP).

The signing ceremony was held at Chief Minister’s House where senior officials from the U.S. Government, Education Department, SBEP partners and representatives from civil society organizations attended the ceremony.

Secretary School Education Qazi Shahid Pervaiz and two selected EMOs, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA) University and The Citizen Foundation (TCF) inked the agreements to manage these schools for a period of 10 years. Under these agreements Sukkur IBA University will manage nine construction schools and 17 priority schools under district package Sukkur and Larkana. TCF will manage 11 newly constructed schools and eight priority schools under district package of Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot.

Chief Minister Shah said that the U.S. government through USAID was contributing $159.2 million whereas the Sindh government was also providing $10 million cost share for SBEP. He added that the project was aimed at increasing and sustaining student enrollment in primary, middle, and secondary public schools in selected areas of the province, with a special focus on bringing back girls who have dropped out of schools. He said that in addition to constructing schools, SBEP would also support the government’s reforms in education, school consolidation, merging and upgrading, community mobilization, public-private partnerships and improving reading competencies of students in schools.

John Smith-Sreen emphasized the U.S. Government’s commitment to supporting education in Pakistan. Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed appreciation for USAID-SBEP and the U.S. Government’s strong support in modernizing education in Sindh. He added that the Sindh government was the pioneer in launching Public-Private Partnership (PPP) reform by outsourcing the operations and management of public sector schools for a period of 10 years to Education Management Organizations (EMOs) under concession agreements.

It may be noted that USAID’s SBEP is constructing up to 118 modern school buildings in nine districts in Northern Sindh. They are Dadu, Jacobabad, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Khairpur, Larkana, Sukkur, Shikarpur and Ghotki and five towns of Karachi - Bin Qasim, Gadap, Kemari, Lyari, and Orangi. Currently, construction of 47 schools have been completed out of which 23 schools have already been handed over to six EMOs and 20 additional schools are awarded through this signing ceremony. The construction of remaining schools is in process and at various stages of completion.