Balochistan unveils school reforms to expand access and improve learning conditions

QUETTA: The Balochistan government has announced a broad set of education reforms aimed at improving learning conditions and widening access to schooling, with Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti chairing a high-level meeting that also reviewed health and law and order.

According to the decisions taken at the meeting, education, health and law and order will be treated as priority sectors in the next financial year’s budget. One of the key proposals is to make all primary government schools gender-free, allowing boys and girls to study together in the same classrooms. The meeting also decided that the compulsory school uniform requirement would be withdrawn. The new policy is to be implemented across the province after approval from the provincial cabinet.

The government said the move is intended to encourage social harmony and gender equality while making better use of limited resources. Senior education officials and relevant secretaries attended the meeting, where participants were also told that Balochistan’s literacy rate remains far below the national average, especially in rural, tribal and remote areas.

Furniture for schools, action on single-room campuses

A major decision taken at the meeting was to end what officials described as Tat Culture, under which students in remote areas sit on sacks or mats instead of proper furniture. Expressing displeasure over the situation, Bugti said children in far-flung areas should not be denied basic dignity while other parts of the world have advanced significantly.

Speaking at the meeting, the chief minister said:

No child will sit on a tat anymore,

He directed the Secretary of Schools Education to take immediate steps to ensure desks and chairs are provided to every student in all functional public schools, and warned that officials who failed to comply after the deadline would face strict disciplinary action.

Bugti also said he would personally carry out surprise inspections, including visits by helicopter to mountainous and remote areas, to review school conditions.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing by Chief Secretary Balochistan Shakeel Qadir Khan on the issues facing single-room schools. As part of the reform package, the government decided to introduce double shifts in 900 government schools to increase enrollment capacity. It also plans to build additional classrooms in 3,000 single-room schools over the next year.

Salary increase for NCHD teachers, common curriculum planned

Among other decisions, teachers working under the National Commission for Human Development will receive substantial salary increases after years without a raise. The government also plans to introduce a uniform curriculum along with standardised reading and writing material across public schools to improve consistency in education quality.

Addressing the participants, Bugti said the responsibility of educating children does not rest with parents alone, but with society and the state as well.

"Our vision is to create a progressive Balochistan where every child receives quality education and becomes a catalyst for progress," he added.

The reforms, discussed during the meeting, are aimed at improving access to quality education and enabling children to play a greater role in the province’s development.