Hameeda Noor
Jaffarabad is district of Balochistan bordering Sindh. Part of fertile Naseerabad division, Jaffarabad district faces the problem of deplorable quality of education.
Jaffarabad ranks 118 out of 148 districts of Pakistan according to the Alif Ailaan District Education Rankings of 2015. While, it is ranked 17 out of 32 districts in Balochistan. 88% of the total government schools in the district only cater to the primary level needs. On average at the primary level, around 47 students are taught by a single teacher.
There are 58% out of school children in Jaffarabad, 75% girls and 46% of boys are out of school. Net enrolment rate at the primary level in Jaffarabad is 47% which drops to 27% at the middle level and is only 11% at the high school level. 16% of class 5 students cannot read a simple story in Urdu while 52% cannot read a story in English and 43% cannot do class 3 level 2 digit division.
Schools of Jaffarabad also lack the basic amenities. Water, one of the most basic facilities is not available in 86% of the primary schools. 99% do not have the facility of a toilet. 88% schools do not have the facility of electricity. 83% of schools do not have a boundary wall and 35% primary schools in the district with buildings have just one classroom in them.
16% of class 5 students cannot read a simple story in Urdu while 52% cannot read a story in English and 43% cannot do class 3 level 2 digit division
There are different reasons for plight of education in Jaffarabad district. There is a weak management and monitoring mechanism on the part of education department which allows the inefficiencies in district education department to go unchecked. Education budget is not allocated according to ground realities and that is also not fully utilized. Delay in release of budget for infrastructure is one of the reasons which are promoting drop outs in Jaffarabad district.
Furthermore, teachers are ill-trained and do not have the required capacity to teach the students. There is shortage of teachers and plethora of ghost teachers which create capacity issues in the education system. There is also shortage of science teachers and laboratory equipment in the laboratories. All of these factors result in the deplorable situation of education in Jaffarabad.
Plight of education in turn results in poor health, honor killings, injustice with women, social discriminations and backwardness of female. Infant mortality ratio among uneducated mothers is 65 out of 1000 and the ratio among educated mothers its 27 out of 1000 in Pakistan.
If the government provides education then lives of women can be much easier. People of Jaffarabad on a whole level can experience a socio-economic uplift if educational standards are improved in the district.
Writer is an Education activist based in Jaffarabad.
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