On the occasion of International Teachers’ Day, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor launched a blistering critique of the government, calling education “Pakistan’s most neglected sector.”
Speaking on Sunday, Shakoor lamented that instead of being celebrated, teachers across the country are taking to the streets to demand unpaid salaries and pensions. He highlighted widespread school closures across Sindh as a symptom of a deeper crisis, triggered by protests against new government salary and pension schemes.
The situation in higher education, he added, is equally dire. “More than a dozen retired professors from Karachi University have died without receiving their pensions,” Shakoor claimed, accusing the university’s management and Vice-Chancellor of destroying the reputation and functioning of the country’s largest university.
He described the education system as being gripped by a dual crisis—corruption in public schools and unchecked commercialization in the private sector. According to Shakoor, amenity plots originally reserved for education and welfare in private housing societies are being handed over to commercial entities to build costly private school chains. Citing the example of Adamjee Nagar in the Kathiawar Memon Housing Society, he called this practice “a sheer injustice to the public.”
While sharply criticizing Sindh’s governance, the PDP chairman praised the Punjab government’s recent decision to merge small rural schools into larger, better-equipped institutions. He urged Sindh to follow the same model to revive thousands of non-functional rural schools.
Calling for sweeping education reforms, Shakoor demanded a nationwide syllabus update, greater emphasis on technical and vocational training to tackle unemployment, and the establishment of at least one general university, one engineering college, and one teaching hospital in every district.
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Concluding his address, Altaf Shakoor extended greetings to teachers on their international day and reaffirmed his party’s commitment to standing by educators in their struggle for justice and recognition.