14770 newly recruited teachers have been imparted training in different phases; Murad Shah distributes certificates among the teachers
Karachi
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah claimed on Tuesday that Sindh government has hired thousands of teachers purely on merit basis engaging third party for the scrutiny of the candidates through the test conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
“This merit-based recruitment of teachers started in the year 2008 and still continues under Teacher’s Recruitment Policy – 2021,” he said while speaking at a program organized to distribute teachers’ training certificates by the School Education department at the Banquet Hall of the CM House.
“This policy of hiring teachers is one of the significant rounds of hiring to engage approximately 55000 candidates as Primary School Teachers (PSTs) and Junior School Teachers (JSTs) in basic pay scale 14 throughout the province purely on merit and without any discrimination and political affiliation,” he claimed.
Chief Minister said that the total number of candidates who appeared in IBA Test for PSTs in Sindh was 184249 against which 83968 qualified and for JST the number of candidates appeared was 164372 against which 51785 qualified the test.
According to him, the number of vacancies of teachers was 60000. He revealed that 12000 schools of the province were lying closed.
Talking about Teachers’ training, Shah said that it was extremely important at the start of their career to make effective teaching and learning at schools and equip them with modern teaching methods through pedagogical skills in both aspects of content-based teaching. He added that a comprehensive program for Initial Professional Development (Induction Training) has been started through Sindh Teacher’s Education Development Authority (STEDA) and Teacher’s Training Institutes (TTIs) and was in progress to provide training to all newly recruited 55000 teachers. Initially, 14770 newly recruited teachers have been imparted training in different phases.
As regards the incentives, the CM said that by bringing the `out of school children’ into the education network, and controlling dropouts, his government has introduced so many incentives which include free textbooks, stipends to girls students, rehabilitation of damaged school buildings, provision of furniture to the schools, the opening of closed schools and merit-based recruitment of teachers.
The Chief Minister said that a teacher has to earn respect and honor in society by giving quality education and generating well-educated and well-behaved students. “This will be possible when the teacher would be devoted, dedicated, and hardworking,” he said.
Minister Education Syed Sardar Shah said that there was dearth of ownership of the schools that not only deteriorated education but created a wide gap to cover the dropout ratio. He said that he had been educated in a `Otaq School’ but that school had the ownership of his grandfather and other notables of the area, therefore the students who passed out from that school attained a higher position in society.
Sardar Shah urged society to own the school whether it was working in a beautiful building or under the open skies. “With your ownership, the teacher would turn up in the class, take classes properly, and would also take interest in the education of the children,” he said.
At the conclusion of the program, the CM distributed certificates among the teachers who had completed the training.
Secretary School Education Akbar Leghari also spoke on the occasion. The program was attended by CM’s Special Assistant Nayab Leghari, MPA Ghulam Qadir Malkani, Secretary of College Education Ahmed Bux Narejo, senior officers of the education department, members of civil society, graduating teachers and others. (PR)
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