Administratively, Tharparker has been one of the most neglected regions in the country. Besides other problems, the provision of quality education has been a daunting challenge for successive governments.
There is not a single university in the district. More than 5,000 aspiring students are unable every year to pursue higher education, after passing intermediate examinations. “My father doesn’t have the money to send me to Hyderabad or Karachi so that I can acquire university level education,” said Qurban Ali Samejo when asked why he had not continued his studies after intermediate.
Qurban is not the only one in the desert who has been so disappointed. 18-year-old Mohan Lal says, “My father died some years ago. Since then, I am the only earning hand supporting my mother and two sisters. How can I leave them behind and leave for Hyderabad or Karachi to get higher education?”
As many as 40 boys and 10 girls across various villages and towns of the district, who have recently passed their intermediate examination but are not going to continue their education said the main reasons behind the decision was the fact that there was no public university in the district.
According to a recent survey taken by a non-governmental organisation, around 9,000 students pass the intermediate examinations from various colleges in Tharparker district every year. Hardly about 1,000 get to study at university level. What can be more unfortunate than this?
Every year, 9,000 students pass intermediate examinations in the Tharparker district. Hardly 1,000 reach a university
There are three colleges and nine higher secondary schools in Tharparker. Together they admit 8,000 to 9,000 students every year.
The affluent families in Thar send their children to Hyderabad, Karachi and Islamabad. Some of them even go abroad and study at foreign universities. The sons and daughters of the poor stay back and are forced to forgo higher education.
Nearly 200 students every year are admitted to Thar’s only degree college i.e. Sadiq Faqeer Degree College, Mithhi, which offers degrees in only two disciplines, i.e. a bachelors of science and a bachelors of commerce.
Unable to offer regular classes, the college administration has resigned itself to maintaining fake attendance record and helping students pass the examinations using unfair means.
Many who get the BSc or BCom degrees from the college cannot even read or write. Many do not know what BSc stands for.
In 2016, the Sindh University Vice-Chancellor Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat announced the decision to establish a campus in Mithhi.
During the same visit to Thar, he requested the administration of Sadiq Faqeer Degree College, Mithhi, to provide half of its newly-constructed building for the campus. The building is being used currently for classes offered by Allama Iqbal Open University.
The then Sindh University registrar, Muhammad Saleem Chandio, was appointed the focal person for the purpose. There was an announcement promising admissions starting in 2017.
In 2017, the prospectus of Sindh University, Jamshoro, mentioned the schedule of classes for bachelors in English, commerce, information technology and business administration. There was no follow up. Almost three years have passed since but the Thar campus of Sindh University remains a pious hope.
In August 2018, provincial assembly member Surendar Valasai submitted a resolution in assembly demanding a public university in Thar. He proposed that it be called Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University of Thar. The Mirpurkhas division, he said, consisted of four districts having a population of around 5.5 million but not a single public university.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of 660 MW coal power plant in Thar, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto announced that the provincial government will establish a campus of the NED University and a new university, namely Thar University, as early as possible.
A social media movement has recently been started by students, educationists, social activists and other members of civil society organisations social media to press the government for a university in Thar.
Some people blame their elected representatives for the lack of progress in this regard. The people of Tharparker refuse to give up hope that one day their children would will acquire university education without having to travel to Hyderabad or Karachi.
The writer is a freelance contributor