Govt, charities must work jointly to improve public schools: Dagha

The Sindh government needs to join hands with sincere education sector non-profits in the form of public-private partnerships to provide quality schooling facilities to children in the rural areas and other underprivileged parts of the province.

Younus Dagha, the caretaker provincial minister for revenue, industries and commerce, said this on Monday while speaking as the chief guest at a ceremony held to honour the students enrolled in the non-profit Green Crescent Trust’s (GCT) charitable schools who recently passed their matriculation examinations with distinction.

Dagha appreciated the fact that over the past 29 years the GCT has established 166 charitable schools, with an enrolment of more than 31,500 students from deprived families in the province.

“I would like to greet the leadership, donors and supporters of the Green Crescent Trust for establishing such a vast schooling network whose enrolment roughly equals to serving the educational needs of a medium-sized city.”

He said the provincial government should learn from the exceptional success of committed charities in the education sector, like the GCT, to effectively overcome the shortcomings of the state-run schooling system.

He also said that the partnerships to be forged between the provincial government and devoted education sector charities would go a long way in providing quality schooling facilities to every child in the remote and rural parts of the province.

The interim minister said the government spends between Rs3,000 and Rs3,500 a month on every student enrolled in its schooling system, but even then it cannot match the quality of education imparted by committed non-profits like the GCT, whose per-student spending is much less.

He advised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the education sector to impart vocational training to their students, besides the provision of IT learning facilities, to help the government overcome the shortage of skilled workforce required for the advancement of Pakistan.

Appreciating the hard work of the students who were honoured on the occasion, Dagha advised them to stay fully focused on getting further education to brighten the future of their families and to become capable of playing an effective role in the progress and development of the country.

He assured the GCT office-bearers that he would sit with them to ponder over the issues of the education sector to jointly find the way forward for improving the public schooling system. Earlier, speaking as a guest of honour, caretaker law minister Barrister Muhammad Omer Soomro said that the shining examples of committed charities like the GCT give much encouragement to the government to improve its schooling network.

Barrister Soomro advised the students in the audience to continue working hard on their studies to emerge as loyal and committed citizens who can meaningfully contribute to the development of the country.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Muhammad Iqbal Memon, who was also a guest of honour, appreciated the fact that a large number of students from underprivileged families have secured distinction upon the completion of their school education.

In his welcome remarks, GCT CEO Zahid Saeed said that it is high time that sincere NGOs and the provincial government join hands to work together to enrol around eight million out-of-school children aged between four and 16 in the province.

Saeed lamented that despite the expenditure of hundreds of billions of rupees annually, the provincial government cannot provide basic academic and infrastructure facilities at its schools.

He said that concerned NGOs in the education sector and the government, by forging partnerships, can jointly work to overcome the serious issues of the state-run schools. On the occasion, the chief guests and the guests of honour awarded commendation certificates to 112 students enrolled in GCT schools who passed their Secondary School Certificate exams with distinction.

The students also spoke and expressed gratitude to the concerned philanthropists and donors for supporting quality schooling facilities for children from deprived families. They also shared with the audience their goals after they have pursued higher education.