Overstaffed Girls’ School as Others Face Shortages in Pakistan
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October 5, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
All-girls’ school in Peshawar, Pakistan has 20 teachers for 40 students, whilst other schools in the area face staff shortages.
MPA Mohammad Ali Khan of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has reported that 20 teachers have been placed in a primary school with 40 pupils in Papara, Pakistan, whilst others face staff shortages.
However, approximately 12 schools for girls and boys have been closed due to a lack of teachers in Shabqadar, an area that has no colleges for women.
Sardar Hussain Babak, the minister for primary and elementary education wants to send exclusive secretaries to Papara’s district, claiming that all affected schools will be made to function properly.
Zindagi Trust, set up by celebrity musician Shehzad Roy, is a non profit organisation that aims to supply a quality education for Pakistan’s underprivileged children.
The organisation’s student- teacher ratio in schools is 16 or 17 students per teacher. The schools are located in urban areas within Karachi, Lahore and Rawal Pindi, and work solely within secondary education.
Haque, a member of the trust, explained to The Fresh Outlook that four years ago, Zindagi Trust took over the management of the SMB Fatima Jinnah Girls School Garden in West Karachi, aiming to demonstrate how schools should be run both administratively and academically.
He said: “We are happy to report that we have successfully created a model that is replicable and has evoked interest in the government circles at the highest level.”
Before the trust took over, the school was fundamentally a cluster of eight schools in one compound, some of which were overstaffed whilst several faced shortages. The government granted Zindagi Trust the authorisation to unite the schools under one management system. Haque continued: “This has yielded positive results and we have had no problem with staffing ever since.”
Upon being asked about what can be done for the future of underprivileged girls’ schools, Haque believes a model identical to the one implemented by Zindagi Trust may be beneficial.
For more information on Zindagi Trust, please visit http://www.zindagitrust.org/
By Davina Qureshi
[Image courtesy of Anduze traveller]
