KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to undertake an ‘annual school census’ for private schools to bring them under a proper check. In the recent past, the atrocities of the private schools in the province, particularly in Karachi have increased causing serious issues for parents such as sudden rise in tuition fees, demanding various charges etc. In many cases, the parents of the students have also formed different action committees to resist the moves of the private schools, according to sources. Talking to Daily Times, Secretary School Education Department, Abdul Aziz Uqaili confirmed that the annual school census would be launched from August and it would take around four months to complete. “After the school census, the school education department would have a proper data base of the private institutions, their fee structure, their policies, syllabus etc,” he added. “This is the first time that an annual census of private schools is being undertaken, however the annual school census used to take place only for government-run schools in the province,” he said, and lauded the role of parents who resisted illegal attempts by some schools with regard to sudden and hefty raise in tuition fees. Informing about the budget allocation, the secretary school education department informed that Rs 10 billion has been allocated for the development projects of schools, besides Rs 165 billion has been earmarked for salary component of staff working in the entire province. “So far, out of total 4,200 closed schools, some 2,076 schools have been physically reopened while the remaining would be reopened after summer vacations,” the secretary said. “There is a dearth of physics, mathematics and english teachers and to overcome this issue, the school education department would appoint at least 6,000 teachers through a transparent process so as to ensure quality education in government schools,” Uqaili said. He also said there were around 6,000 cases of school education department pending with different courts of law which are being followed properly to get positive results.
