LARKANA: The colleges of Larkana division face a shortage of 501 teachers, including professors, assistant professors and lecturers, delivering a blow to the Sindh Chief Minister’s (CM) education priority policy.
There are 27 colleges in Larkana division out of which 18 are for boys, eight for girls and one is for co-education.
In all these colleges, a total of 1,211 posts of teachers are sanctioned out of which only 701 have been filled, while 501 have been vacant for a long time. The students of science suffer the most due to the shortage. To pass, the students use unfair means in the examinations and as a result, the scope of education is declining in the Larkana division.
In all five districts of Larkana Division, including Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Kandhkot, Kashmore and Larkana, education is facing a tremendous anomaly which needs to be noticed and resolved immediately.
It is a matter of great concern that one college in the constituency of MPA Suhrab Sarki was reportedly running in two rooms in Garhi Hassan. These rooms were obtained from the Government Boys High School two years ago which proves that the slogan of an education emergency was merely a political tactic for certain gains.
In Larkana city, only one boys’ science degree college is available where 6,000 students have been enrolled in classes eleven and twelve, and 2,000 students are getting BSc education but neither PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari nor PPP Provincial Chief Nisar Ahmed Khuhro took notice of such a huge admissions to construct another science college here during their rule that lasted over 11 years.
Sources said that the college administration is now being pressurised not to admit more students due to the lack of required facilities which amount to the denial of their fundamental right to education.
The population of Larkana is growing fast, where at least three more colleges should have been built but not a single science college has so far been even planned.
Even there are no boys colleges in taluka headquarters including Bakrani, Sujawal, Qubo Saeed Khan, Lakhi Ghulam Shah and Garhi Khero, not to speak of girls colleges, where students have to travel daily to get an education.
Director, Colleges, Larkana Region, Prof Liaquat Ali Ghangro, when asked on Thursday, said that three girls colleges would be made functional this year which include Ratodero, Madeji and Thul. Buildings of three boys colleges of Shahdadkot, Miro Khan and Thul towns have become outdated which also need to be constructed afresh immediately.
The building of Miro Khan Boys College has been declared dangerous by Buildings Department due to which college authorities have locked some of its portions. Prof Ghangro said that he had written a letter for sanction of required funds to carry out essential repair work of these colleges but funds were yet to be approved by higher education authorities.