The Sindh Education Foundation and NGOs were offered help by officials in reopening and making closed schools operational. - File photo

He was speaking at a seminar on integrated education learning programme here on Friday organised by the Sindh Education Foundation on Friday.

The EDO said that 1,100 vacancies of teachers in Larkana would be filled in due course of time and warned teachers to be ready for strict action who had developed the habit of remaining absent from duties.

DCO of Qambar-Shahdadkot Muhammed Yaseen Shar who also holds the charge of DCO Larkana indicating towards a number of closed schools in Qambar-Shahdadkot offered the SEF and NGOs to help in reopening and making them operational.

Saying that the government was attaching top priority to education, the DCO said that all possible avenues should be tapped to increase literacy rate in the country.

He urged the SEF to undertake extensive survey of the schools in the remote areas and chalking out plans to have generous funding to serve the far-flung population.

He said girls' education should be the focus of these plans as they played a vital role in enhancing the awareness.

Speaking on the occasion, Naheed Abbasi, the executive officer of the Larkana regional office of the SEF, said that the integrated education learning programme aimed at evolving public-private partnership and increasing access to and improving the quality of education services in primary, elementary and secondary schools throughout the province.

During the first phase of implementation from 2009 to 2011, SEF would extend financial and technical support to 1,500 new and existing private schools through the per -child subsidy model and directly reach out to 450,000 children of ages between 5 to 18 years, she said.

She said new schools would be supported in 13 districts, including Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Sukkur, Naushahro Feroze, Jamshoro, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, Tando Mohammed Khan and Karachi.

Under the plan 300 existing primary schools owned by NGOS', trusts and individuals would be upgraded to elementary level while 50 private elementary or middle schools would be upgraded to secondary level.