Federal Education Minister Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd) on Saturday said like students of Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan, students in Sindh will appear in composite exams of Class IX and Class X from next year despite objections from some quarters.
Talking to Sindh Education Minister Dr Hamida Khuhro at her office here, he said only examination boards, which would be deprived of their one-year exam fee, tuition centers fearing their business losses and some teachers who will have to make extra efforts were opposing composite exams of these classes.
Javed Ashraf Qazi informed Dr Hamida Khuhro that the federal government had earmarked over Rs 1.6 billion for teachers' training and its major portion would be provided to Sindh for training of its teachers so they could impart quality education to their pupils.
He said the government had declared English language as compulsory subject from Class I and for that purpose, the Punjab government had hired 25,000 teachers while computer education will also be given from Class VI in Punjab.
Briefing Javed Ashraf Qazi about steps taken by the provincial government for improving quality of education in Sindh, Dr Hamida Khuhro said that special attention was being paid towards technical education as well as teachers' training in Sindh, for which the federal government was co-operating with provincial education department.
Shee, however, regretted that there were many schools where teachers were not available while in those, where teachers were posted, they don't perform their duties honestly. Many schools are occupied by local landlords while some schools even lack students, she added. "But a programme has been launched by education department to make such schools functional", she said, and vowed all negligent teachers would be sacked despite strong political pressure.
Dr Khuhro said that teachers should realise their responsibilities instead of indulging themselves in non-teaching activities. Sindh Education Secretary Subhagu Khan Jatoi and other officials were also present during the meeting.