According to a report, out of 2,844 schools in Pakistan's Karachi, a total of 276 schools have zero students but 317 teachers employed at these institutes and the authorities are reluctant to comment on the issue.
According to the Reform Support Unit (RSU) of the Sindh School Education and Literacy Department census of 2019, 276 schools, which amounts to 9.7 per cent of total schools in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, has no enrollments in them.
The News International repeatedly tried to reach the relevant authority on the issue. A visit to the office by the news portal, the Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary School Education Director Shahid Zaman and the office of Primary School Education Director Abida Lodhi resulted in disappointment because both of them refused to comment on the issue.
The statistics provided by the Directorate of School Education Karachi show zero enrolments at 119 co-educational schools, 119 boys schools and 38 girls schools in the city, reported The News International.
As per the educationists, post-2020 COVID pandemic, the number of such public schools is likely to be higher than the one mentioned in the census report because, during the lockdowns, even the dropout rate at established schools had increased.
In the month of January, the education department had closed 4,901 unviable schools across the province due to the lack of proper buildings, had poor enrolments and was facing a shortage of teachers, reported The News International.
One hundred and fourteen of those schools were closed in Karachi: 53 in District Malir, 15 in District Central, 14 in District West, 12 in District South, nine in District Keamari, seven in District Korangi and four in District East.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor