HYDERABAD, Jan 16: Sindh Caretaker Education Minister Shujaat Ali Baig has said that the development and prosperity of any country is totally dependent on the quality of its education and that is the reason that the caretaker government is making all-out efforts to improve the educational system and increase the literacy rate.

He was speaking at the scholarship award distribution ceremony among the position holders of Hyderabad, Karachi and Mirpurkhas intermediate boards of education at the Government Girls Pilot School, Hirabad, here on Wednesday.

He pointed out that in the past Sindh had produced a galaxy of scholars who were serving the cause of education not only within the country but also abroad.

He claimed that the caretaker government was trying to restore the old glory of Sindh in the field of education.

He said that the Sindh education department had established a complaint and proposal centre at its head office in Karachi where the people could register their complaints about the inefficiency and irregularities of educational officers and could also furnish proposals for the improvement of the educational system.

He deplored the incidents of loot and plunder, arson and vandalism following the tragic incident of Dec 27 and said that those who had destroyed government and public properties, educational institutions and libraries were the enemies of the state and Islam.

He said only the Sindh education department had suffered losses to the tune of more than Rs 600 million for which the federal and Sindh governments were being approached to rehabilitate educational institutions and libraries. He said on the pattern of private educational institutions, the Sindh education department had also introduced different crash courses for students in specialised fields. He said in addition to this teachers were also being provided training, especially in the English language, to enable them to teach English in government schools.

He distributed cheques of Rs 48,000, Rs 27,000 and Rs 18,000 respectively among the three top position holders of each of the three boards of education.