New provincial education commission bill by Sindh Government
 

Sindh Government has decided to set up new education commission and in this connection the bill will be presented before the provincial assembly. Senior Minister for Education Pir Mazharul Haq stated that while presiding over the 19th meeting of the NED University senate which, besides considering the annual report, approved the university’s budget 2011-12.
The minister said that although the process was in transitory period, Sindh government had decided to set up an education commission with its members drawn from serving and retired educationists, referring to the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the 18th constitutional amendment, which had made the way for maintaining and raising the standards of education by making it a provincial subject, according to him. As a matter of fact, he added, provinces had gained greater independence after transfer of education to provinces. He also said that the modesty and respect of all universities would be maintained as they had been created through legislation. Meanwhile, the senate approved the university’s deficit budget for the year 2011-12.According to the budget document, the university estimated revenue of over Rs1.275 billion as against the proposed expenditure of a little over Rs1.371 billion.
He said that unlike the past practices of inducting followers of influential people in the education department, the present government had recruited 14,000 school teachers purely on a merit basis after an entrance test conducted by the IBA, Sukkur. Another 8,000 teachers would be employed and transparency would be guaranteed in the employment process, he added. “Why should we depend on federal government for every thing knowing that its main task was to look after serious matters concerning defense, economy and foreign affairs. He emphasizes the need for ensuring merit in every sphere of life
The minister said that the government would apply strictly the relevant rules to control the danger of cheating and mismanagement in the boards’ exams.
NED vice chancellor Prof Abul Kalam said that in 2003-04, a total of 1,015 undergraduates were enrolled with the university and their number in 2010-11 had jumped to 1,882. The number of students enrolled in the NED master’s degree programme had also increased from 296 in 2003-04 to 482 this year while there were 16 students enrolled for the PhD programme this year as against only seven enrolled in 2007-08.He said there were 74 PhDs in the university’s faculty while 111 faculty members were doing their PhDs abroad or some other institutions of the country.