A marathon Sindh cabinet meeting on 16-January-2025 chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah made several significant decisions in the education sector, including the recruitment of 195 teachers, creation of 700 more teaching positions and approval of amendments to the education board laws.
The cabinet also decided to operate 100 electric buses in Karachi on a rent-to-own basis. The provincial cabinet also urged the federal government to initiate the Flood Protection Plan IV on a 50-50 percent cost-sharing basis.
Additionally, the CM directed the provincial education department to develop a transgender education policy and granted a tax exemption to the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) fees for procurements for the K-IV water supply project.
Recruitment
The provincial cabinet was informed that to enhance the quality and standard of education, the Teaching Licence Policy was approved in 2023. Sindh is the first province in the country that introduce such a policy.
Following the policy introduction, a test was conducted in March 2024 through the third-party, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, in which both pre-service (fresh candidates) and in-service teachers participated.
A rigorous assessment was carried out, with a total of 4,000 candidates taking the test. Only 646 candidates (195 fresh candidates and 451 in-service teachers) qualified by achieving high standards of 50 or more marks in both content and pedagogy sections.
The cabinet was informed that 700 new posts of elementary school teachers (EST) in grade 16 were created specifically for in-service and pre-service candidates holding teaching licences. The finance department, however, has only included 352 of these posts in the budget, leaving 348 posts yet to be formalised to accommodate all teaching licence holders.
The CM directed the finance department to formalise the remaining 348 posts. Regarding the 195 fresh teaching licence holders, the cabinet granted them a time exemption for the written test, referring them to the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) for interviews for their appointments against the vacant EST (BPS-16) positions.
Education boards
The cabinet also discussed proposed amendments to the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Bill -2024 and the Sindh Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance 1972.
The proposed amendments include the inclusion of members from civil society, headmasters, and principal representatives in the boards. Under these amendments, the government will have the authority to remove any board member and would not allow any benefits, allowances or concessions to individuals working there.
The board chairmen would hold office for a term of three years from the date of their appointment and would be eligible for reappointment for additional specified periods. The chairmen would be appointed by the controlling authority through either a direct recruitment process to select a suitable candidate from the market or by transfer from among cadre officers of BPS-19/20, on terms and conditions determined by the authority.
Transgender education
Discussing the Sindh Transgender Education Policy, the CM emphasised the need for a policy free from all forms of discrimination. He noted that the transgender community in Pakistan had very limited access to education.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2023 census report, the literacy rate of transgender individuals at the national level is 40.15 percent, while in Sindh, it is 34.16 percent. In rural areas, the literacy rate drops to 19.52 percent, compared to 42.42 percent in urban areas.
Murad directed Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah to develop a policy for free and compulsory education for transgender persons, which would be submitted to the cabinet.
Published in News Daily on 17-January-2025.