Sindh Education Minister Rejects Miftah Ismail’s Allegations, Cites Flood Impact and Data Misrepresentation

Imran

00:50 2025, 4 July

Karachi, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah has strongly refuted allegations made by Awaam Pakistan Party’s General Secretary Miftah Ismail regarding the state of education in Sindh. Responding to a press conference circulating on social media, Shah dismissed the claims as baseless and misleading.

He clarified that the Planning Commission of Pakistan’s District Education Index report, cited by Ismail, had already been challenged by the Sindh government for being factually incorrect. Shah emphasized that the report was based on outdated data from 2022–23, a period when Sindh was devastated by floods, displacing millions and disrupting education infrastructure and reporting accuracy.

Shah pointed out the same report, which noted increases in enrollment across all education levels—3.2% in primary, 7.6% in middle, 5% in high, and 8.8% in higher secondary—while simultaneously claiming a decline in literacy rates.

He presented updated figures from the 2023 census, stating Sindh’s population stands at 55.69 million, with 17.78 million school-age children projected for 2025. Of these, 11.61 million are enrolled in schools, while approximately 6.2 million remain out of school. In comparison, over 10 million children are out of school in Punjab.

To address this, Sindh has introduced a non-formal education curriculum for the first time and aims to significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children by 2030. Shah criticized federal agencies for not consulting provincial departments before publishing such reports and for failing to accurately count Sindh’s population in the census.

He also highlighted that 20,000 schools were damaged due to natural disasters, and including this in performance metrics is unjust. Shah noted that UNESCO has rated Sindh’s curriculum as superior to other provinces and that 93,118 teachers were recruited transparently on merit, improving both quality and enrollment.

The minister further mentioned that Sindh pioneered a teacher licensing policy and that challenges like lack of electricity and internet in remote areas—due to federal neglect—should not be used to penalize the province in technology indexes.

He concluded by questioning Miftah Ismail’s motives and reminded that 92% of the education budget is allocated to salaries. Shah reiterated that while Sindh acknowledges its shortcomings, sustainable solutions require accurate, fact-based data and genuine collaboration.