Ghost Schools and Dropout rates (Misery of Sindh)

In Sindh, there are 12 million kids between the ages of 5 and 16; 6.7 million are not in school. The lack of middle and high school government institutions is the main factor contributing to this worrying decline in net enrolment. The lack of middle and high school government institutions is the main factor contributing to this worrying decline in net enrolment. There is a significant imbalance in the number of schools available there. In Sindh, there are 46,039 government schools, of which 91 percent are primary, and 4% are high schools. What's more intriguing is that 91 percent of elementary schools receive only 15 percent of the budget during budget distribution time. School dropouts were caused by ineffective policies and funding allocation, which also increased the number of "ghost" schools.

Ghost schools and dropout rates are serious issues: "A ghost school might be a school which is not there, it never was built, and they said, 'oh we've built the school,' and there's no school there," said Professor Anita Ghulam Ali, former minister of education for Sindh and head of the Sindh Education Foundation, a government organization that works to address educational issues in the province.

The most typical scenario is when the school is shut down, and there is no teachers present, thereby turning it into a ghost school.

There are at least 11000 non-functional and ghost schools in Sindh. In Pakistan, Thatta and Tharparkar have the most abandoned buildings and ghost schools. It added that teachers in these schools draw reasonable salaries without working, which burdens the state's limited resources.

The Sindh government, in the perspective of the public, has failed the province. The Pakistan People's Party, which has ruled the province for more than ten years, has come under fire from social media users who claim that "the party is keeping Bhutto alive by operating "ghost schools."

The image shows the causes and factors that influence dropout rates and ghost schools issue in Sindh's govt. The leading causes of dropout in Sindh's government schools are poverty, illiteracy, excessive political interference, local tribal conflicts, informal institutional arrangements of Sindhi society, lack of facilities (electricity, substandard infrastructure, and toilets), ineffective administration, school climate, and child labor. Additionally, no administrative support system in Sindh would have helped district education management reduce the number of "ghost schools."

Lastly, it is recommended that law-abiding organizations take note of the situation and manage their departments under the law. Additionally, the government must use social forums to win over the local area's political will for cooperation in eliminating unwarranted political intervention in the education system. Further, Sindh's low literacy rate is primarily due to poverty. Therefore, the government should start technical education, cottage industries, or poverty alleviation initiatives to end poverty. Sindh has a far higher percentage of ghost schools, partly due to a severe literacy crisis. Government should focus on the literacy rate, especially in rural areas of the Sindh. Policymakers must also pay heed to this and make feasible and productive policies for the province.