HYDERABAD: A division bench of Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Omer Siyal has directed secretary of the school education and literacy department to ensure that all schools closed down in the province are reopened and teachers are in attendance.

The bench also ordered the department’s additional secretary to appear before it on Feb 16.

It referred to a statement of the education secretary that 125 primary schools were closed down; 73 of them due to being unviable as reported by the Chambar (Tando Allahyar district) taluka education officer (TEO).

The statement said that the district education officer (DEO) of Tando Allahyar had submitted a proposal for the opening of the remaining 52 schools by posting teachers in a required number.

The bench said it appeared that the education department closed down the schools mainly due to unavailability of teachers, and not on account of unavailability of students. On the contrary, it noted, the number of students was high whereas teachers remained unavailable.

The bench observed that education department could not be allowed to close down schools. It ordered the education secretary to reexamine the policy and set up committees at division level. The committee members should visit sites of schools, hear villagers and submit recommendations to education secretary and this court through additional registrar.

The bench said the committees should submit complete reports of the schools closed down on the basis of TEOs’ reports whereas such information should also reflect all those schools across Sindh where teachers were not posted.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Jehanzeb Laghari, a resident of Haji Ahmed Ali Laghari village of Chambar taluka, who informed the court that the Govt Boys Primary School was functioning smoothly with over 51 students but after retirement of a teacher, Mohammad Usman, on Aug 31, 2018 no teacher was posted there.

He submitted in court that on his application, the education officers concerned assured him that a teacher would be posted within two to three days but this did not happen. He said he then approached the Chambar TEO after which a teacher, Ghulam Mustafa, was posted from Govt Primary School Abdul Hayee, which had no building and students were getting education under the open sky.

The Tando Allahyar DEO did not ensure provision of a teacher to the Govt Boys Primary School Haji Ahmed Ali Laghari, he stated, alleging that the officers concerned also made false statements before the Tando Allahyar sessions judge that students of the Haji Ahmed Ali Laghari village school were getting education in other schools.

He informed the court that the education department was getting budget for the closed schools but failed to provide teachers, and prayed for the reopening of the school in his village and posting of a teacher there.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2022