25 million children out of school as teacher shortage grows in Pakistan
Islamabad – Pakistan’s education crisis has become increasingly serious with around 25 million children out of school. A large number of these children are in Punjab and Sindh, the country’s most populous provinces.
According to figures revealed in a recent assessment, a severe shortage of teachers in the public education system along with a lack of basic facilities in schools has raised concerns about the future of millions of children.
Severe teacher shortage in Punjab
The shortage of teachers in government schools in Punjab has become a major issue. According to the figures, 62 percent of permanent teaching positions in the province are vacant.
The large number of vacant positions is placing an additional workload on the existing teaching staff raising concerns that the provision of quality education to students may also be affected.
Fewer teachers, rising student numbers in Sindh
The education situation in Sindh is also alarming where the number of teachers is declining while student enrollment is increasing.
According to the report, 1,561 teachers in Sindh’s schools have not even passed matriculation meaning they do not meet the basic educational qualification required for teaching.
Questions over education quality
Education experts say that the shortage of teachers, untrained or underqualified teaching staff and the growing number of students have created a serious gap in the basic education system.
Punjab and Sindh account for more than 60 percent of the country’s total population meaning that the education crisis in these two provinces also has a significant impact on the country’s overall education system.
Education experts say that without effective measures for the immediate recruitment and training of teachers and improvements in educational standards, it will be difficult to achieve the goal of providing basic education to all children in the country.
So far, the provincial governments have not announced any comprehensive province-wide plan to fully fill vacant teaching positions. However, demands for measures to improve the number of teachers and the quality of education in government schools are growing stronger.
