Haleem joins teachers, parents protest against Hyd public school

Expressing solidarity with the teachers, staff and parents of students at Hyderabad Public School – the largest government-funded school in the city – the leader of the Sindh Assembly Sindh Haleem Adil Sheikh s ‘is attached to their demonstration on Sunday.

Teachers complained to him about their salaries, promotions and allegations of discrimination by the management of IBA Sukkur University (SIBAU), which was given administrative control of the PSH in early 2019. Students and parents alike reported problems with rising fees and other academic issues. “SIBAU was a very reputable flagship institution,” said Haleem. “Despite all the political pressure, Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui [former VC] tried to fulfill his obligations and raised the standard.

He lamented that Siddiqui’s successor, Professor Syed Mir Muhammad Shah, apparently failed to contain the political intervention. “The new people who were brought in to SIBAU posts began to work in the bondage of the Sindh government of the Pakistan People’s Party.” He recalled that the former Field Marshal of the military dictator, General Ayub Khan, inaugurated the school in 1960. “But [PPP chairperson] Bilawal Bhutto Zardari privatizes this school.

Citing complaints from teachers, he said senior faculty members face discriminatory attitudes from new teachers appointed by SIBAU. Haleem lamented that teachers and staff employed at PSH have not received a salary increase since fiscal 2013. He said that thanks to the core faculty, the school has produced thousands of academics, doctors, engineers, lawyers and politicians. , educators and businessmen over the past six decades.

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He found it strange that a man aged around 36 was appointed director of the school in April 2019, by SIBAU. “We doubt that the land of the PSH will be occupied and sold,” feared Haleem, who is also president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh. The school, made up of several clusters of school, administration, sports, hostels and staff residences, spans over 100 acres. It is located along the city’s rapidly growing commercial market, the highway road, in Latifabad.

Some people at the protest shouted that plans to build shops and a wedding hall were already in the pipeline. Other protesters complained that SIBAU wanted to return secondary education, as this paved the way for the establishment of the university campus in the PSH. Haleem reiterated the blame on the Sindh government for destroying the state-funded education and health sectors in the province.

He said 1.460 billion rupees had been spent on education over the past 13 years, but the population has only witnessed the decline in the level of education. He said 6.9 million children in the province are out of school, but the provincial government wants to close about 10,000 schools. He also found fault with the transfer of management of educational and health facilities from government to non-governmental organizations.

In the 2019-2020 audit report of the Director General of Audit of Sindh, procurement-related irregularities worth Rs 56.37 million were discovered in the HSP during the tenure of the outgoing director Imran Ahmed Larik. A total of 18 audit paragraphs highlighted irregularities such as the payment of advances to make purchases without tendering, irregular appointments, salary increases and the allocation of vehicles.