KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has expressed resentment over provincial education authorities after finding anomalies in an app being developed to record attendance of government schoolteachers.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh also noted some doubts about proper functioning of the Sindh Child Protection Authority (SCPA) and said that only most capable and dedicated officers be posted to head such institutions.

The bench was hearing a set of petitions mainly seeking implementation of the Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013.

At the outset of the hearing, the secretary of the information science & technology department filed a statement along with documents purporting to show the features and functionality of the app launched on a trial basis in seven districts for recording teachers’ attendance.

However, the bench noted with concern that the very first document appended with the statement was a graph reflecting March 6 attendance showing that 12,422 teachers were present and 16,324 absent.

Bench asks govt to post ‘most capable officers’ to head institutions relating to education, social welfare and child protection

It confronted Education Secretary Ghulam Akbar Leghari over such alarming figures.

The secretary conceded that it was an anomaly arising out of non-adherence on part of teachers in the districts concerned in signing-in to the app so as to reflect their attendance.

“Needless to say, such statement scarcely affords a proper explanation in the matter, for if the App is being trialed in the concerned district and has been deployed as we are given to understand over the past several weeks, adherence on the part of teachers ought to have been ensured and in the event of noncompliance proper action ought to be initiated,” the bench wrote in its order.

When the court asked IT Secretary Asif Ikram to show pictorial breakdown on a district-wise basis, he submitted that such representation was only available in overall terms.

The bench said, “To our minds, this is a serious gap in the system, as the district-wise position ought to be available pictorially on the dashboard for ready reference.”

Both the secretaries submitted that such feature was necessary and the same would be incorporated and implemented through engagement with the National Information Technology Board.

The bench said that when it asked about the protocol to be followed in respect of determination children qualifying as a “child in need of special protection measures”, SCPA director general Asghar Ali Ghangaro was unable to assist the court properly.

“Needless to say, the subject of Education, Social Welfare, and Child Protection are paramount for the proper development of society and it is necessary that only the most capable and dedicated officers be posted/appointed to head those departments/ institutions,” the bench remarked.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023