The Reforms Support Unit (RSU) of the Sindh Education and Literacy department has proposed to hold tests and interviews on December 16, 17 and 18 this year for 18,248 vacancies of school teachers, Business Recorder learnt on good authority on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with this development told this correspondent that a similar proposal had been sent to the Senior Minister for Education and Literacy, Pir Mazharul-Haq, before the 10 of Muharram. Pir Mazhar, who was in London for a few days, joined his office on November 26, has not yet given final approval in this regard, sources said.
They said that the unit had received more than 700,000 applications from all over the province for 18,248 teaching posts in primary, junior and high schools. The department had advertised vacancies for teachers in April, this year, with May 20 as the deadline for posting applications, which was extended by a month. By May 20, the education department had received more than 200,000 applications, said an education official.
"By June 20, more than 700, 000 applications had been received," he said. Initially, the processing fee was set at Rs 300, but the education minister lowered to just Rs 30, he said. For conducting written test of the teachers, the RSU invited bids from various agencies. Top two bidders were Sukkur IBA and the National Testing System (NTS).
In early September, RSU officials said that they were negotiating financial and other matters with the top two bidders and it would be finalised by the end of the month. However, the matter still remained unresolved and the education department had not yet responded to any of the candidates, sources said. "Of the total teaching posts, 10,545 posts are for primary school teachers, 6,665 for junior school teachers and 1,038 for high school teachers," they informed.
According to a copy of a proposal obtained by Business Recorder, in Sanghar 400 posts are up for grabs of 184 primary teachers, 193 junior teachers and 23 high school teachers. In Kashmore-Kandhkot, there were 565 posts of 469 primary teachers, 83 junior school teachers and 13 high school teachers. In Benazirabad, 2,181 posts of 1,343 primary school teachers, 690 junior school teachers and 168 high school teachers.
In Hyderabad, there were 1,234 total posts, of which 454 were primary school teachers, 628 junior school teachers and 152 high school teachers. Similarly, 402 posts were vacant in Jamshoro, 220 in Tando Allahyar, 1,228 posts are in Umerkot, 391 in Jacobabad, 741 in Qambar-Shahdadkot and 1,240 in Larkana.
In Khairpur, there were 1,795 posts, 735 posts in Mirpurkhas, in Matiari 293 posts, in Ghotki 744 posts, in Naushahro Feroze 1,063 posts, in Tharparkar 2,061 posts, in Badin 1,235 posts and there are 624 posts in Dadu district. In Sukkur, there were 821 posts, of which146 are primary teachers, 506 junior teachers and 169 high school teachers. In Karachi, there are 2,995 posts, of which 1,057 primary teachers, 2,668 junior school teachers and 79 high school teachers and in Thatta, there were 1,168 posts, of which 657 primary teachers, 493 junior teachers and 18 high school teachers, it concluded.
The Sindh education department decided to hold tests of potential candidates at educational institutions managed by armed forces to eliminate the use of unfair means in exams. Speaking as a chief guest at a ceremony held at Gul Hassan Lashari School in Gizri on Wednesday, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that the process for appointment of about 19,000 school teachers, financed by the World Bank, was to commence shortly.
Advertisements for appointing teachers on a three-year contract were being placed in national newspapers to overcome the shortage of teachers at government schools, he said. Tests would be conducted at the Army, Navy and Air Force centres to discourage cheating during the test. The ceremony was also attended by Secretary of education department Siddiq Memon and director of schools, Karachi, Niaz A Leghari. Mr Haq further said that 900 Sindhi language teachers were being appointed in the province. Teaching of Sindhi language would continue in government as well as private schools, he said.
He said that measures were being taken to give stipend to female students from class one to class five from next year to enhance the literacy rate at the primary level in the province. The provincial education department was already providing stipends of Rs 2,600 to girls from class six to class eight each per annum while about 15,000 students who had passed tests conducted by the ZABIST would start getting Rs 1,500 per month soon, he added. He said that through the consolidation policy, the Sindh education department would hold administrative control over schools being handed over to non-governmental organisations.