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| February 09, 2007 | Friday | Muharram 20, 1428 |
All primary teachers trained: ministry
ISLAMABAD, Feb 8: The ministry of finance has claimed that almost 100 per cent teachers in the country’s public sector primary and middle schools are trained, but conceded that a major portion of public schools lack basic facilities and the number of functional schools has declined.
This was one of the conclusions reported in the annual report on poverty reduction posted on the finance ministry’s website.
“Public schools are doing well in terms of percentage of trained teachers as 100 per cent teachers male as well as female were trained in Punjab, the NWFP and the FANA (Federally-Administered Northern Areas) in 2005-06,” said the report, adding that the percentage of trained teachers in Balochistan ‘slightly declined from 100 per cent to 98.5 per cent’.
On Pakistan level, 99.36 per cent and 99.17 per cent male teachers in the primary and middle schools are trained, respectively. Similarly, almost 99.6 per cent and 99.29 per cent female teachers at primary and middle levels are trained, respectively.In Azad Kashmir, the number of trained male primary teachers substantially declined to 87.5 per cent in 2005-06 against 96.56 per cent in 2003-04, perhaps because of earthquake casualties. But strangely, the number of trained female teachers in Azad Kashmir has increased from about 90 per cent in 2003-04 to more than 95 per cent in 2005-06.
On a provincial basis, 100 per cent teachers (both male and female) in the primary and middle level schools are trained in Punjab, the NWFP and FANA.
In Sindh, 98.67 per cent and 98.91 per cent male and female teachers, respectively, in primary schools are trained. Similarly, in the middle sections, the percentage of male trained teachers stands at 98.98 per cent, followed by 97.63 per cent in females.In Balochistan, there are 98.4 per cent and 95.3 per cent male trained teachers at the primary and middle level, respectively. Similarly, female teachers at the primary level stand at about 99.9 per cent against 97.8 per cent at the middle school level.The report said the total number of functional public schools declined by 5,130 schools since 2002 to 141,186 in fiscal 2005-06. The total number of functional schools also fell short of the official target of 153,824 for 2005-06. The decline in functional schools is the result of about five per cent decline in primary schools in 2005 against the figures for 2003.
The number of functional schools declined by two per cent in Punjab while it declined by 11 per cent in Sindh, 1 per cent in the NWFP, 5 per cent in Azad Kashmir and two per cent in the Islamabad region.
According to the report, functional schools increased by 4per cent in Balochistan, 11 per cent in Fata and 16 per cent in Fana.
The report says that the situation of basic facilities has improved over the last three years. Islamabad and Fata are two regions where all four basic facilities were above 89 per cent in fiscal 2005 while the situation in other regions is very dismal, indicating that there is a need to increase investment in basic facilities in public schools.
The report says that at the national level, literacy rate among people aged 10 and above has increased by 10 per cent to 53 per cent in 2004-05 compared with 43.9 per cent in 1998. Literacy rate stood at 65 per cent in males and 40 per cent in females indicating a gender gap of 25 per cent at the national level in 2004-05.
The highest literacy rate is 84 per cent in Islamabad and lowest 20 per cent in Qilla Abdullah and Jhal Magsi in Balochistan. Nationally, gross enrolment rate at primary level increased form 72 per cent in 2000-01 to 86 per cent in 2004-05, recording an increase of 14 per cent.
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