KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to raise the status of primary school teachers by elevating them to higher grades after they have served for nine to fifteen years. The provincial government has also agreed to abolish the requirement for primary teachers to have a B.Ed degree in order to receive a raise in their basic pay scale (BPS), allowing 15,000 primary school teachers in the province to advance. As per details, the teachers who have completed their 15 years of service would be given a BPS-16 while those who have completed their nine-year service will be given a BPS-15. In October this year, the Sindh cabinet approved the proposal of easing the recruitment policy for the teachers after only a fewer number of candidates were able to clear the test conducted by IBA Sukkur for over 40,000 vacancies. The meeting was told that only 11,549 candidates passed the test for primary school teachers (PSTs) against the total seats of 32,510 in the province. Similarly, 14,000 candidates appeared in the test for the junior elementary school teachers (JESTs) for the total seats of 14.039. Sadly only 1,385 candidates were declared successful. The meeting advocated lowering the passing criterion for special candidates from 55 percent to 33 percent, while the education department proposed lowering the passing criteria for women from 55 percent to 50 percent. The passing percentage for minorities candidates was recommended to be set at 50%. The proposals were approved by the Sindh cabinet.