QUAID-I-AZAM Mohammad Ali Jinnah dreamt of a progressive and prosperous Pakistan. It is obvious that such a dream was based on having equal educational opportunities across the country without any discrimination. We rightly consider our children the future of Pakistan, and our teachers to be builders and groomers.
However, it is deeply disappointing that schools in the newly merged districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province continue to suffer from a serious shortage of teachers.
Even when the government fills these vacancies through a recruitment process, many teachers fail to perform their duties properly. Some remain absent from school for extended periods, while others move to Peshawar, Hangu, Kohat and other cities where they establish businesses.
Some have even taken up employment in the Middle East.
Consequently, children are being denied their constitutional right to affordable and quality education. This situation undermines Pakistan’s performance on the Human Development Index, where the country ranks 168th out of 193 countries.
The KP government has launched an initiative to enrol 1.56 million out-of-school children during the current academic year. It also recruited 13,000 new teachers in different categories last year. However, such measures will remain ineffective unless teachers are held accountable for their attendance and performance.
In 2023, school leaders were appointed through the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) across KP except the erstwhile Fata districts. These school leaders are tasked with monitoring the quality ofeducation and teachers’ attendance, and reporting their findings to the district education officer (DEO).
The government should extend the same programme to the merged districts by hiring school leaders as quality-control officers. Their presence can help ensure that teachers attend schools regularly and that children receive the education they are entitled to. Only then can the nation hope to realise Jinnah’s dream of a progressive and prosperous Pakistan.
Muhammad Ajmeer Orakzai