Need to overhaul education department stressed

One day media workshop on child rights was held under the auspicious district Social Welfare Department at a local hotel here. Speakers of the workshop criticised the provincial government for ignoring education sector as a result, of which the dropout of children increasing rapidly.
They said that it is shocking that government despite toll claims had failed to provide adequate education facilities to children as well as to ensure basic facilities to the student's government controlled schools. It was disclosed in the workshop that as many as 19 schools are closed in Bujwat area but teachers were drawing the salaries regularly, and it is awful that nobody dare to check this malpractice, corruption and efficiency of the teachers.
Most of the government schools were presenting horrible look due to non-availability of teachers and basic facilities in the institutions, especially in rural areas of Sialkot district. The speakers further said that due to this malpractice of education department the private schools were fleecing the poor students by charging high fee and it seems that education department was promoting the private sector in Sialkot district. They alleged that teachers and education department are equally responsible of deteriorated education standard, dropout and illiteracy.
Education at this critical juncture had become more imperative not only for bringing radical changes in mindset but also overcoming the socio-economic problems. We have failed to identify our real enemies in 63 years and if impartially analysed the whole situation we found illiteracy is our common foe resultantly the nation is suffering from socio-economic problems they said. Pages of human history bears witnesses lack of educational facilities, greed on part of parents, trend of cheap labour increased the lust for the benefit in traders and industrialists and all these combined together promoted child labour and this taking the shape of a vicious circles generated poverty as a result of this at present a large number children are forced for the child labour and the negligence of education department and teachers will promote all type of child labour in the society.
Representative of CSDO said that in order to address the issues pertaining to all sort of child labour Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) is playing its dominating role with the help of Child and Social Development Organisation (CSDO), an independent NGO.
The CSDO teams were playing their tremendous role in mobilising the members of the communities, parents and children about the importance of the education. Though it was a tough task in this materialistic era because parents usually prefer that their kids do something to earn as compared to education and this tendency generate many sensitive issues like domestic labour, child labour, forced labour and child abuse as well as social evils.
Most of speakers underscored the need of complete overhauling of education department and demanded independent monitoring system for purging education department from corrupt elements. The participants of the workshop stressed the need of collective efforts for the protection of child rights and urged upon the media persons to play their due role in elimination of all types of child labour from the society.
Speaking on the occasion the journalist assured to extend full co-operation for eradication of malpractices from education department and to activate the educational institutions in Sialkot district. In his address of welcome District Welfare Officer Muhammad Nawaz Khan highlighted various achievements and said that department was paying special attention on the education and grooming of children.