Daily Times

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shaheed Benazirabad Shahryar Gul Memon chaired a meeting of the District Reform Oversight Committee of the Education Department at the DC Office on Monday.

Addressing the meeting, the DC said that the schools in the district where there are excess course books should be returned so that they can be given to other schools where they are needed. He said that the headmasters of all schools should give a certificate that they do not have excess books.

The DC said that recitation and singing of the national anthem in the assembly should be ensured at all schools, especially primary schools. He said that awareness should be raised among the children of primary schools to highlight the importance of cleanliness so that children are aware of maintaining cleanliness in schools and streets.

He said that children should throw wrappers and waste papers lying in schools and their homes in the dustbin. He added that an admission campaign shall be launched in the areas where there are more out-of-school children. Representatives of the District Council and Municipalities should be invited to the meeting, he directed.

The DC expressed his concern by describing the data of teachers’ attendance and absence provided by the Chief Monitoring Officer as incomplete and said that teachers who have retired or died are still present in the data of the monitoring officers and are being shown as absent.

He further said that a complete investigation should be conducted before declaring a teacher absent lest the teacher is working in another school. He ordered the transportation of furniture in schools transparent.

Earlier, briefing the meeting, Chief Monitoring Officer Wajidan Qureshi said that 249,000 students are enrolled in government and private schools of the district, while there is a shortage of 917 primary teachers in the district. He said that there is a shortage of books in some schools of the district, there is a shortage of Urdu medium courses on the primary side and English medium courses on the secondary side, while some schools have additional stock of books out of which the additional stock would be withdrawn for other schools.

He said that when teachers retire or die, a copy is not given to the IT focal person, due to which the data is not entered.

He further said that the district requires furniture for 196 new schools, which is being supplied slowly.

The meeting was attended by District Accounts Officer Habib-ur-Rehman Arain, District Education Officer Secondary Muhammad Saleem Bhatti, besides monitoring officers, NCHD, Local Support Unit, Education Works officers.