Karachi : Spokesperson to Government of Sindh, Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani has said that Government of Sindh is actively working to address the issue of out-of-school children in the province in order to ensure that every child of the province has access to the right to education.
Sukhdev Hemnani shared that implementing Article 25A and 37B of the Constitution, Sindh introduced “Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2013” under which, free education is provided to the children until 16 years of age in public schools. Not only are the schools free of charges, but the Government is also providing textbooks, stationery, schoolbags and uniforms totally free of cost, he added.
The Spokesperson stated that while the number of out-of-school children in the country is exponentially high, Sindh Government has established several programmes to cater to the children education. The Government recognizes that the education challenge faced by the province cannot be met through formal school system alone, and therefore, non-formal education policy/measures were adopted by Sindh in a bid to mainstream out-of-school children.
Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani highlighted that Sindh Government is setting up 3000 non-formal education centres across the province, with 100 centres in each district, which shall provide both education and vocational training to the children who have dropped out of school. These centres will not only help the children attain education but also be equip them with skills to earn a living in future.
Moreover, taking cognizance of the high ratio of dropouts from primary schools, Sindh Government has decided to start evening classes in primary schools, which will later be upgraded to the middle school level to reduce the dropout rate, he stated.
He further added that Sindh has already taken many significant initiatives to make the education sector efficient including development of Teaching License Policy, recruitment of 60,000 teachers purely on merit, recruitment of music teachers in primary and middle public schools, curriculum reforms. Sindh Government is working diligently to ensure that the children have access to quality education without any discrimination or barriers, said Spokesperson Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani.
