In Pakistan the reality is that we have thousands of ghost schools and hundreds of thousands of ghost teachers, what does the government planning to do to improve this situation remains yet to be seen. One of the main problems in education and many other departments in Pakistan is that there is heavy corruption that must be abolished.
One of the major hurdles for this is lack of good pays. For example teachers in government schools and colleges get very low pays. Salaries must be increased by three times, this step will not only attract quality teachers but also encourage them to do justice to their jobs.
No new budget is required for this, and what the education department should do immediately is to get a district wise examination board and test each teacher. After proper tests and examinations only the quality teachers should be retained at higher pays and the rest should be replaced to lower employment grades.
All the ghost schools should be checked and only the ones that are in good locations and performing well should be given extra allowances for repair and be maintained through a reputed company like Nespak to supervise and ensure quality of work. The ghost schools not in use should have their budget withdrawn till a proper evaluation of their staff and students as well as the facilities being provided is conducted.
In Sindh alone the official figure quoted is that there are 7,500 ghost schools. This should be reduced and their budgets suspended. The funds thus saved should be provided to schools that are performing well.
Book banks should be maintained in each school library where the students should be able to get the books on rental at a very nominal fee, thus saving millions to the already tight education budget.
This saving should be passed on to the principal, the teachers in the form of better pays and the students for a lunch allowance, as well as free uniform, are given to each student as an incentive to attend schools.