Sindh CM urges SEF to bring 3m out-of-school children to schools

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the education of a child at an average costs Rs 800 per child/per month for the government; therefore, bringing another two to three million out-of-school children back to school was a doable target.

This he said while presiding over a meeting of the board of governors (BoG) of Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) at the CM’s Secretariat Saturday.

The meeting was attended by the Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Principal Secretary to CM Naveed Kamran, Education Secretary Fazal Pechuho, private members of the board, Dr Kaiser Bengali, Dr Qazi Masood, Dr Muhammad Memon, Hussnain Qamar Shah and others.

SEF MD Naheed Shah Durrani, while briefing the board, said that in the last one and half year, the foundation had expanded the portfolio in accordance with the vision of the government and in the background of the challenges faced by the education sector in Sindh.

She said by now, the foundation had an outreach to 2,447 schools having an enrollment of 491,555 students. Most of the low-cost schools supported by the foundation are located in deep rural areas and serve students belonging to the extremely poor population of the province, she added. Also, the foundation continues to work on quality components to ensure that students’ learning levels meet a minimum quality assurance criterion, she maintained.

The chief minister examined the foundation’s portfolio and observed that if the education of a child at an average costs Rs 800 per child/per month, inclusive of administrative expenditure, the government can provide a minimum prescribed quality of education; therefore, bringing another two to three million out of school children to school should be a doable target for his government.

He asked the members of the board, including ex officio members to begin thinking about doable options. Education minister Jam Mahtab Dahar said the government would explore all options to bring out-of-school children into schools, and will ensure that children of underdeveloped regions are not left out.

The board approved the innovative interventions proposed by the SEF management for enhancing the quality of education in SEF-supported schools, including the introduction of technology in 600 SEF schools and starting a fellowship programme titled ‘Teach for Change’ on the pattern of ‘Teach for Pakistan.’