Daily Times

The Sindh High Court has ordered the Sindh government to reopen all the closed government schools and ensure attendance of the teaching staff.

“All the closed schools shall be reopened forthwith and ensure attendance of the school teachers in all the schools,” the Hyderabad Circuit Bench of justice Salahuddin Panhwar and justice Omar Sial Thursday ordered to the Sindh Secretary School Education and Literacy Department.

The court directed the secretary to submit compliance report while fixing the next date of hearing on February 16. The order was given on a petition filed by advocate Jahanzeb Laghari, a resident of Tando Allahyar district.

Referring to a report submitted by the education authorities of Tando Allahyar the bench noted that the schools had mainly been closed due to non-availability of the teachers. “There is no issue of availability of the pupils. On the contrary the figures of the pupils are high and there is non-availability of the teachers,” the court observed.

The bench said the education department could not be allowed to close such schools and to feel discharged of their responsibilities of filling vacancies of the teachers. The judges were apprised that the decision of closure of the so-called ghost schools had been taken on the reports which were submitted by the respective taluka education officers.

“The facts reflect that such reports were submitted due to non-availability of the teachers,” the bench noticed.

The SHC ordered the provincial schools education secretary to revisit the policy of the closure. The government had also been directed to form committees of the relevant officials on divisions level to reach out to the localities and villages of the closed schools and take the concerned communities’ input.

The committee would later have to submit recommendations for reopening the schools to the court as well as the provincial government. The bench was informed that in Tando Allahyar some 125 schools were closed including 73 for non-availability of the teachers.