Misleading numbers

Finding an easy solution to a complex problem appears to be the prevailing strategy to achieve a two-pronged objective: buying time and garnering positive publicity for cosmetic efforts.

How else can we explain that, despite a persistent lacklustre performance in education, no head rolls in the highest-level performance review meetings in Sindh? It has been reported that in a meeting at the CM House it was said that 16 million children aged five to sixteen years are enrolled across Sindh. The breakdown includes 5.2 million in public schools, 4.01 million in private schools, 93,000 in semi-government Sindh Education Foundation, 5.6 million in non-formal schools and 1.03 million in madrassas. However, the statement of 16 million enrollments doesn’t seem accurate for several reasons.

First, the breakdown doesn’t add up, falling short by 867,000. Second, given the total population of Sindh, it doesn’t appear plausible. According to the latest census report of the Bureau of Statistics, the total population of Sindh stands at 55.69 million. Of them, 30.36 per cent are children aged 5 to 16 years – approximately 16.9 million. The same meeting identified 7.8 million out-of-school children in Sindh. Adding these figures (16 million + 7.8 million) exceeds the total population of school-age children in the province. This stark discrepancy suggests either an error or a deliberate attempt to showcase inflated numbers.

To verify whether this discrepancy was an error in the reporting, or if the press release was misleading, I reached out to the media spokesperson of the CM House with a request to share a copy of the officially issued press release but didn’t get many details.

The meeting also addressed the alarming dropout rate of 46 per cent, particularly after primary schools, attributing much of it to the unavailability of post-primary schools. However, the proposed solutions – introducing afternoon classes at the existing primary schools and upgrading them to middle or secondary schools – fail to consider the ground realities.

Given the significant time and resources required to build a new school infrastructure, utilising existing facilities may appear to be a pragmatic solution but on closer examination proves largely infeasible. A staggering 60 per cent of the province’s 36,225 primary schools are single-room facilities, which makes any meaningful expansion of afternoon/evening classes highly impractical. Currently, only 0.9 per cent of schools operate such additional shifts, primarily in urban areas.

The education authorities, it seems, recognise the limitations of this approach. Yet, their adept media strategy continues to secure headlines for what is an inadequate response to the province’s pressing challenges: a 46 per cent dropout rate and 7.8 million out-of-school children.

The reality on the ground is far more dismal. Basic amenities remain a distant dream for most schools. According to the 2023-24 Annual School Census, 37 per cent of schools lack drinking water, 25 per cent have no washrooms, 68 per cent are without electricity, and 49 per cent are without boundary walls. While the presence of 75 per cent washrooms may seem like an achievement, they are often inadequate, lacking water supply and proper cleaning, and most importantly, separate washrooms for girls, which is a significant concern in the mixed schools constituting 47.4 per cent. Additionally, 7.0 per cent of schools are entirely non-functional, mainly due to a shortage of essential human resources. These figures starkly illustrate how ill-equipped public schools are for the future.

In a province with sweltering weather, how can teachers teach or students learn in schools devoid of electricity and drinking water? Critical questions must be asked at the highest forums: Why has the education department failed to resolve these fundamental problems for decades? Who is accountable?

Shockingly, even schools in Karachi and Hyderabad – major urban centres – are deprived of essential amenities. Is the hurdle a genuine shortage of resources or the entrenched mindset of the authorities? The evidence suggests it is the latter. The real challenge lies in changing this mindset and instituting accountability mechanisms to reward good performance and penalise failure. Unfortunately, given the province’s long history of governance issues, genuine accountability remains absent.

Another critical challenge is the shortage of competent teachers. Post-primary education requires trained and qualified educators, yet the province lacks both. This inadequacy is reflected in the dismal performance of candidates in Sindh’s recently introduced teaching licence test, where only 16 per cent managed to pass. Consequently, the prevalence of ‘learning poverty’ among students is unsurprising.

The School Education and Literacy Department, in its 2023-24 Annual School Census, claims significant progress. Enrollment has reportedly risen from 4.4 million in 2021 to 5.2 million; the number of teachers has increased from 110,759 to 168,628; and classrooms have grown from 132,196 to 135,802. While these figures may appear impressive on paper, their credibility raises several questions. Has the printing and distribution of free textbooks for classes one to ten increased proportionately with this surge in enrollment?

Although a book bank system has recently been introduced to encourage the reuse of textbooks by having students pass their books to successors, this initiative caters to only a very small percentage of students. The figures for the printing of new textbooks each year do not seem to align with the reported growth in enrollment, further casting doubt on the reliability of these claims.

More importantly, the gap between enrollment and actual attendance remains unaddressed. This critical aspect must be reflected in the census, yet it continues to be overlooked. Without a reliable mechanism, such as a digital system to track student enrollment, attendance and performance, these figures risk being overly optimistic and far removed from the ground realities of public education.

With poorly equipped schools, unqualified teachers, and unreliable data, achieving meaningful educational outcomes for disadvantaged children appears increasingly unattainable. Unfortunately, high-profile meetings and announcements often amount to little more than performative gestures.

To genuinely address the crisis, the focus must shift toward ensuring basic infrastructure, improving teacher training, and instituting mechanisms for accountability.

The writer is an education expert and can be reached at: asgharsoomro@gmail.com