REFERENCE Zubeida Mustafa`s article `Teachers who cannot teach` (Feb 1), the education department has some observations to make.

The Sindh Education Department has taken serious note of the critical findings concerning Sindh in the recently launched `Annual State of Education Report` (ASER), for 2011, at Karachi.

The department has issued a directive for arranging the sharing of the ASER 2011 findings with the district education officers, regional directors of education and other senior officers of the Education Department and its attached departments, for a follow up action plan.

Taking serious notice of the ASER (2010) findings last year, the chief minister approved the Education Department`s proposal to establish a full fledged monitoring and evaluation wing.

It is further expected that the M& E wing will be operational during the next financial year. The wing will work independent of the directorates of education and will submit reports to the education secretary every month.

The department is taking steps to improve the quality of education by strengthening academic/scholastic accountability of teachers; provision of standards and need based trainings; development of new textbooks and other learning resources along with putting in place a strong monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

The department is also proposing to establish the Sindh Examination Commission (SEC) to introduce Standardised Student Achievement Testing (SAT) through a third party for Grade V and VIII (transitional years) on an annual basis with effect from the current academic year, for all children enrolled in public schools.

Later its coverage may beextended to private schools initially on a voluntary basis.

Also, the department has conducted students` diagnostic assessments for Grade IV (Maths; Sindhi and Urdu) and Grade VIII (General Science) on the basis of district representative sample. The report for Maths IV has been released whereas the language reportisunderthe process of finalisation.

Recently, a merit based scholarship examination (Grade V and VIII) has also been planned for this year.

The department is also in the process of consultations to formulate a second generation of reforms (with a sector strategy).

The department is also considering creating specialised cadres to address theissue of weak administrative and academic accountability to improve the quality of education in Sindh.

It is also trying to merge adjoining schools to make betterschools and to network them under a cluster with a dedicated, empowered head teacher who will be provided mobility and school specific budget to improve results.

The department is planning to introduce the post of head teachers at elementary/primary level and recruit 6,000 to 8,000 head teachers.

Establishing area school boards atthelocalleveland the education commission at the provincial level, with inclusion of eminent citizens, and key stakeholders, are some of the forward looking initiatives. This will help improve governance and accountability of the school system at the local level.

The department, however, would like to raise concerns on the quality of the data collected. The department raises serious objections to the sweeping statement that `94 per cent children in grade III could not read`, as reported in some sectionsschools and to network them under a cluster with a dedicated, empowered head teacher who will be provided mobility and school specific budget to improve results.

The department is planning to introduce the post of head teachers at elementary/primary level and recruit 6,000 to 8,000 head teachers.

Establishing area school boards atthelocalleveland the education commission at the provincial level, with inclusion of eminent citizens, and key stakeholders, are some of the forward looking initiatives. This will help improve governance and accountability of the school system at the local level.

The department, however, would like to raise concerns on the quality of the data collected. The department raises serious objections to the sweeping statement that `94 per cent children in grade III could not read`, as reported in some sectionsof the media, since the ASER (2011) did not contain such specific statement or findings in the report launched.

The report, however, identifies structural constraints in literacy skills of children assessed in the sample, which will be addressed through a long-term, coherent strategy in consultation with stakeholders.

FARHAN ALI BHATTI Media Coordinator to Secretary, Education and Literacy, Sindh Karachi