A FEMALE teacher in my village in Sindh was appointed two years ago to a remote, almost non-existent school, located far away from her home, with zero student enrolment.

The dilapidated school building is used by the villagers as a cattle farm, with fodder stored in the broken rooms. The teacher reports to this far-flung school every day, as required, but simply sits in the decaying building until it is time to return home. Meanwhile, there is a shortage of teachers at her own village school, where enrolment is high.

She has knocked on every doorin the Sindh government to request a transfer so she can teach where she is needed, but to no avail. The response is apathetic at best; the officials simply do not care about this waste of resources. The government seems to serve those with power, money, or both, while people with no recourse are left without hope.

Such wastage of resources contradicts the government`s slogans about promoting education. It is disturbing that corruption has become so normalised that people now see it as just a part of governance.

If a department responsible for shaping thefuture ofthe next generationsis so plagued by corruption, we cannot expect a bright future for our coming generations.

If the government is truly serious about eradicating corruption, it must establish clear standards by which the performance of its departments can be measured.

People must have access to information, and the bureaucracy must be made accountable to the people they serve.

ShakeelNizamani Calgary, Canada