The collapse of colleges

Sindh govt may reduce minimum passing marks to cover up education failure 

The year ended with shocking results from 38 colleges in Karachi where all students failed to clear intermediate exams. Educationists believe that the Sindh government is likely to reduce the minimum passing marks to 25 from 33 as it did in the case of the medical test MDCAT.

Taking into account the previous records, educationists say that there is a general feeling in the Sindh government that the minimum passing percentage of 33, fixed by the HEC is extremely high, which forces thousands of students to give up on their dreams of studying in universities each year.

It all started in the year 2021 when the Sindh government decided to reduce the Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) passing marks. The threshold was lowered from 65 per cent to 50 per cent for MBBS students and 40 per cent for BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) students.

The 65 per cent passing marks were set by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC). The Sindh Cabinet decided to lower this threshold which was later challenged in the court by the PMC.

The judges’ bench rejected the notifications issued by the provincial government after hearing the attorney general, advocate general, PMC lawyers and respondents.

Then again in May 2022, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced a revision of the Teacher Recruitment Policy 2021 by reducing the criteria for passing marks from 55 per cent to 40 per cent to meet the shortage of teachers.

Sadly, the Sindh Chief Minister later on admitted that even after lowering the passing marks to 40 per cent, 18 talukas were still deficient in teachers. “The candidates who secured marks less than 40 per cent in these 18 deprived talukas of different districts will be allowed to attend special courses and pass a test to be conducted by a third party for their recruitment,” he said.

As a natural outcome, all provinces have outshone Sindh in literacy rate. The enrolment ratio of school girls in Sindh has declined to 39 per cent compared to 61 per cent of boys. On average, the overall dropout rate in primary classes in Sindh is 23 per cent, according to a report.

The investigative report, based on research, interviews of stakeholders and field observations, says the main reason for low enrolment and high dropout in rural areas is the location of schools that are 5 to 10 kilometres far from villages.

The federal and provincial governments together spend about Rs1,000 billion on education annually. This does not include private spending, which is much more than this number. In Pakistan, around 4 out of 10 people are illiterate. Sindh, the land of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, one of the greatest poets of the world, was the only province that recorded a fall in the net enrolment rate in primary schools, which went down from 61 per cent to 55 per cent in 2020.

However, Punjab and Balochistan maintained their ratios at 70 per cent and 56 per cent respectively. Even Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (excluding the former tribal agencies) managed to maintain the enrollment rate at 66 per cent, 11 per cent more than Sindh. Surprisingly enough Balochistan, despite being the most neglected province, is also one per cent ahead of Sindh.

The intermediate board has issued the details of colleges, which failed miserably to educate students and suspended their registration certificates too. Though the government of Sindh spends Rs40,000 annually on each student, it seems that the sole purpose is to provide jobs to teachers and benefits administrators.

Educationist Hamid Ali Shiekh says the causes behind the destructive results are incomplete infrastructure and a lack of specialised teachers. “The absence of technology in teaching methodology, traditional rot-based learning, outdated curriculum, zero accountability, and criminal negligence of political & bureaucratic leadership are some of the issues plaguing education in Sindh,” he added.

Above all, this indicates that political and bureaucratic leaders are reluctant to take any concrete measures. “It’s high time for the ruling party of Sindh to look into this most neglected area of human development. The education department, parents, and NGOs should bend together to play their part honestly to save future generations.”

“It’s a long road, but we have to make the right decisions. Otherwise, historians would write that the province failed to educate their children despite having plentiful financial and intellectual resources,” he concludes.