IBA-Sukkur likely to sign MOU with education dept

Institute of Business Administration (IBA)-Sukkur is likely to hold tests for teachers’ appointments in relation with an education reforms programme in Sindh being sponsored by the World Bank (WB).
The provincial education department had recently announced at least 19,000 teaching posts including those of primary school teacher (PST), junior school teacher (JST) and high school teacher (HST). Thousands of applications were received by the department from all districts of the province.
Since the submission of the said applications, the education department has been negotiating with major universities and organizations to conduct tests as part of the selection process. Pakistan Today has learnt from reliable sources that an agreement has almost been reached with IBA-Sukkur for the latter to conduct the written tests. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed by Sindh’s education department and IBA-Sukkur for this purpose.
The reforms programme, sponsored by the WB, is a bid to improve the quality of education in the province, especially in government-run institutions. The WB has insisted on conducting the recruitment on the basis of merit. Sources said that the recruitment of teachers in Sindh had been delayed due to strict conditions laid down by the WB and the apathy of the education department’s officials.
The WB had given Rs 8 billion to the province to recruit teachers, with strict rules for recruitment through different stages and third-party evaluations. The education reforms programme targets primary, junior and high schools in all districts of the province on a need-cum-merit basis. The entry test for the first batch of 6,000 teachers was conducted in 2007 by IBA-Sukkur. The teachers were appointed on a three-year contract, starting in 2008. The entry test of the second batch of 8,000 teachers was held under the aegis of the University of Sindh in 2009. The teachers from the second batch were also appointed on a three-year contract, starting in 2010.