In spite of articulated policy of priority to primary education and heavy investments, almost 70 percent of the Sindh's rural children are out of school.
This was stated by provincial Education Minister Irfanullah Khan Marwat, while speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day education moot here at a hotel on Monday.
The Sindh Education Programme Round-table Consultation was organised by the provincial education department in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the Unicef.
Marwat was of the view that it was astonishing to see that Sindh has one of the highest social gaps in human development.
"The rural population suffers chronically from the low quality and in many cases from complete absence of education services," he said, adding, "given 95 percent of children in rural Sindh are dependent on public schools, reforms to improve these schools will be instrumental in reducing the incidence of low enrolment, especially for girls."
He said the government of Sindh has been fortunate enough to enlist the support of various international donors for its education programme but added that "this support is coming to Sindh due to the government's demonstrated commitment to education reform."
The minister pointed out for the government of Sindh the major priorities under this sector are aimed at bringing a large majority of out of school children to the schools. This goal required a consistent policy approach.
"However, it needs multiple interventions." Accordingly, the government has devised the entire incentive programme for encouraging children's participation and retention in schools.
Marwat said that school management too needed to be taken to the school itself and for this the government has brought the SMCs at the centre stage of reforms.
"The training and monitoring of SMCs is thus a big priority with the government for enabling these organisations to become agents of change."
DILAPIDATED SCHOOLS: Referring to the dilapidated state of thousands of schools in the province, which are without roofs, walls and other basic facilities, he stressed that there was a need for a big and quick investment for bringing about the infrastructural improvements.
The minister favoured the idea of the third party monitoring of the schools.
He said: "The Sindh government fully believes in merit and that there would be no quota except for that of the rural-urban one, which is a constitutional requirement.
Marwat also pointed out the difficulties that are faced for the release of the budge-led funds owing to what he described as procedure-ridden financial system in the province.
"We must realise that the goal of increasing access to quality education in Sindh provides us all with a common agenda that necessitates co-operation, co-ordination and continuous constructive dialogue," Marwat said.
CHALLENGING TASK: The country director of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Marshuk Ali Shah, in his address said that developing human resources through effective educational developments is a challenging task for Pakistan, which urgently needs to upgrade its human development indicators if the country is to grow and poverty is to be reduced.
He was of the view that over the last half a century, "Pakistan appears to have failed to develop its human resources effectively and presents a rather unfortunate picture of its education."
He pointed out that in the latest UN Human Development report, Pakistan has been placed at 144th position out of 175 countries and presents a poor educational performance in relation to other countries in the region.
He pointed out that the ADB and Pakistan have been development partners for over 32 years.
The ADB's country development strategy for Pakistan is closely aligned with the needs for its education development. The ADB has currently five education projects at various stages of implementation, he said.
Nazim, City District Government Karachi (CDGK), Naimatullah Khan, said: "This metropolis needs the assistance of the international donors towards the betterment of the education system."
He said: "There are 92 colleges and some 4,500 schools in the city and many of these schools are in a bad shape lacking basic facilities."
The City Nazim desired 'mega' assistance from the ADB, European Union and the Unicef for the education sector in Karachi as according to him the help given so far was not sufficient.
He pointed out that recently President General Pervez Musharraf had approved a package of Rs 29 billion for the city's infrastructure. "A package is also needed for the education sector in the city," Naimatullah Khan added.
Unicef Representative Omar Abdi said: "Time is ripe for significant increases in education and especially for girls."
He said that increased fiscal space resulting from lowered debt and increased exports and overall economic growth, offer new opportunities for increases in social sector spending.
Omar Abdi said the governments at the federal and provincial levels have made efforts to address the challenges to education.
The education sector reforms were launched and under the Education For All (EFA) framework, the government hopes to achieve 100 percent universal primary education by 2015.
SERIOUS FLAW: Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Mutawakal Kazi said that there was a serious flaw in the system of education and that it pertained to the management at all levels in this sector as well as of the teachers.
He is of the view that the future of Sindh depends on how we are going to manage our system of education.
Dr Kazi is of the view that the role of teachers is so important that it tantamount to make or break the education system. Sindh Education Secretary Ghulam Ali Pasha presented the welcome address.
The ambassador of the European Union, Likka Uusitalo, was also present on the occasion.