An NGO working for betterment of education in Pakistan, Alif Ailaan, has issued midterm report card for MPAs of four provincial assemblies who have completed their three years on November 11 after general elections 2013.
According to the report card emailed to PPI by Alif Ailaan Media Manager Hina Ali, the provincial assembly of Sindh shows that out of 130 directly-elected MPAs, only five MPA constituencies received A grade denoting evidence of some overall progress since the 2013 general election.
The chief minister scored a B grade for his constituency PS-29 Khairpur-I, while all other MPA constituencies scored either B or C grade depending on their performance on each of the four benchmarks they have explored. Sindh Education Minister Nisar Khuhro, elected from PS-36, Larkana-II, scored C in facilities and retention grades, B in gender parity and student teacher ratio and his overall performance has been determined as B. Likewise, Sindh Home Minister Suhail Siyal, elected from PS-35 Larkana-I, obtained C in first three categories, B in fourth and C grade in overall performance. MPA Muhammad Ali Bhutto, elected from PS-37, has been given D, C, C & A respectively and his overall performance remained C. Nadir Magsi has been given C, A+, D, A+ and overall his grade remained B. Sardar Chandio has been given C, A+, D, A+ respectively and his overall performance remained B.
The overall grade for the provincial assembly of Sindh is C. In the provision of school facilities, three MPA constituencies in Karachi (PS-98, PS-108, PS-126) demonstrated a level of improvement consistent with what would represent an A+ effort (the only other A+ goes to PS-83, represented by Shahid Abdul Salam Thahim). Another 16 MPA constituencies received an A grade, 12 of whom belong to constituencies in Karachi. At the other end of the spectrum, MPA Aziz Ahmed Jatoi’s Larkana-Kambar Shahdadkot (PS-41) has demonstrated the most dramatic deterioration in school facilities and was thus rewarded an E grade.
Overall, rural constituencies remain overrepresented in the worst performers (including in Umerkot, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Ghotki). Largely, school facilities did not improve very much since the 2013 election, with 55 percent of constituencies being awarded a C grade or below.
Some eight MPA constituencies in Sindh have seen a significant enough improvement in retention rates that they scored A+ grade. This includes PS-16 Jacobabad-cum-Kashmore in the constituency of MPA Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani. Other recipients of an A+ are three other Jacobabad constituencies (PS-13, PS-14, and PS-15), both of Kashmore’s constituencies (PS-17 and PS-18), and both constituencies in Kambar-Shahdadkot (PS-40 and PS-42). At the other end of the spectrum, Sanghar (1 E and 1 D grade), Umerkot (3 D grades), Nawabshah (2 D grades) and Tando Allayar (2 D grades) all experience the worst deterioration in retention rates.
The largest improvement in gender parity was in Hyderabad and Karachi with all six A+ grades going to constituencies in these two cities. Eight of the nine A grades are also from Karachi’s constituencies. The worst performing constituencies in Sindh, in terms of gender parity, are Thatta (with 3 Ds and 2 Cs) and Tharparkar (with 4 Ds).
Constituencies in Kambar-Shahdadkot, Tharparkar, and Dadu appear to have shown the greatest movement towards improved student teacher ratios. Only one constituency (PS-95) from Karachi receives an A grade. Out of the 17 Ds awarded in the province for student teacher ratio, 16 are from Karachi constituencies. Similarly, both E grades from the province are from MPA constituencies in Karachi suggesting considerable population pressures on schooling in urban areas and an overall undersupply of teachers. All of the five constituencies in Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah’s Khairpur district received a B grade.
