Thousands of schools either vacant or not fit to run in Sindh: secretary education

• As many as 6,886 schools are empty in Sindh.
• In Karachi, 229 schools are closed, report reveals.
• 46,549 posts of teachers are vacant in Sindh.

Sindh's education secretary on Wednesday admitted thousands of schools in the province were non-functional.

The secretary's comments came during a Sindh High Court hearing on free education and reforms in the province.

The government official, in the report submitted to the court, acknowledged 6,866 schools were closed, and 7,974 schools across the province were not fit to run. Meanwhile, 229 schools are closed in six districts across Karachi, and the most — 137 — schools are closed in the Malir district.

The report said a total of 46,549 posts of teachers were vacant in the province — out of which 32,510 posts were for primary teachers and 14,039 for junior elementary teachers.

The report said after the cabinet's approval, an online transfer posting policy has been introduced which will help in reopening closed schools, while recruitment of new teachers will be done through a third party. A recruitment advertisement has also been published.

The report further said that closed schools would be reopened with the recruitment of new teachers and a biometric system has been installed to ensure the attendance of teachers.

Later, the court said that at the next hearing, it should be stated what the extent and proportion of free education schemes in the province is.

It directed for all the procedures related to the recruitment of teachers to be completed in four months.

The court adjourned further hearing of the petition till April 13.