Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while leading a pivotal review meeting on school education, today approved sweeping reforms aimed at decentralising financial and administrative powers to the school level. The decision includes the abolition of additional posts for taluka education officers, District Education Officers (DEOs), and directors, alongside a push to digitise the education department.

The Chief Minister highlighted the importance of foundational learning and early childhood care and education during the meeting. He underscored the need for a streamlined administration by eliminating redundant layers from the taluka to divisional level. This will be supplemented by the use of facial recognition technology for tracking attendance as part of the department’s digitisation efforts.

Technical education and skill development are set to receive a boost through initiatives like Middle Tech and Matric Tech, incorporating STREAM Labs in both formal and non-formal sectors. Public-private partnerships through the Sindh Education Fund (SEF) model and Education Management Organizations (EMOs) will be strengthened to bridge the gap between primary and post-primary education.

The meeting was attended by key figures such as Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah and other senior officials. Enrollment statistics reveal that out of 40,990 schools, there are approximately 5.2 million enrolled students, with a significant number of children still out of school. The Chief Minister set a target to enroll an additional one million children in the next year.

Shah also approved the transformation of high schools into model institutions with plans to develop 600 model schools by the 2028-29 academic year. The governance strategy includes empowering School Management Committees (SMCs) and implementing a school clustering policy to enhance community engagement.

Missing facilities in schools such as water, sanitation, and solar power are also set to be addressed with a school-specific budget. He instructed the education department to expedite reconstruction efforts for schools damaged in the 2022 floods, which have impacted the education of 2.3 million children.