Introduction

The educational institutions in Kech district include two degree colleges, 25 high schools, 39 middle schools and 429 primary schools. Apart from these public sector educational institutions, 4 primary schools exist in the private sector. Many of the government schools in the district are not functional. These schools exist on paper only. Their staff is getting salary but no teaching activity is being carried out. There are no reliable official data about these non-functional schools.

Government School System

The government school system in Kech follows the national pattern. It is divided into three stages: primary, middle, and high. The entry point to primary stage is kachi, which is actually the first part of class one while the second part is pakki. In this way the student spends two years to pass class one. After class one four more years are required to pass primary stage (class 5). Middle stage (class 6 to 8) is of 3 years’ duration and high section (class 9 and 10) is of two years. In order to get a secondary school certificate a total of 11 years’ schooling is required.

Primary Schools

There are 326 boys and 103 girls primary schools in the district. More than half (57.4%) of these schools are single teacher schools. Fifty-five of these schools have been mosque schools which have been awarded the status of primary schools. Usually a Junior Vernacular Teacher (JVT) is appointed in a primary school. In mosque schools both the boys and girls study up to the primary level. The teacher-student ratio in boys primary schools is 1:34 and for girls primary schools this ratio increases to 1:67.

Amongst the 103 girls primary schools, 8 are community support primary schools and one is a community model primary school. All these 9 schools were initiated by the community with efforts of the Society for Community Support for Primary Education. A Village Education Committee (VEC) is constituted amongst the villagers where at least 75 percent of the residents are willing to open a girls primary school. This committee supervises functioning of the school. A local middle pass girl is engaged as a teacher. Space for the school and the teacher’s remuneration for initial 3 months is provided by the community. After 3 months the government approves and finances the school if its performance is satisfactory. After 3 years the government constructs the school building on the land provided by the community, provided that funds are available.

The Strengthening Participatory Organisation is arranging primary education for girls through their Village Education Program. Under this program schools are established under the supervision of Anjuman Zanana Taleem in the villages where there is no school. These schools are called Noukeen Sabah School (New Dawn School) and girls of more than 10 years of age are admitted as students. Education up to primary level is completed in 4 phases, each of 6 months. In the first phase a course designed by the Allama Iqbal Open University is followed. In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th phases 3rd, 4th, and 5th class courses are taught. In this way a student who has wasted her initial years without education can get primary level education just in 2 years.

There are 4 private primary schools of which one is being run by a province-wide NGO, namely the Pak Public Development Society. The minimum qualification of teachers in these schools is graduation and they are paid a reasonable remuneration. The monthly tuition fee for each student ranges between 250 to 300 rupees while every year 400 to 500 rupees are charged as admission fee and 200 rupees as annual fund. The enrolment in these schools is increasing as the parents find the educational standard of these schools good.

Vocational Training

In Kech, the Technical Training Centre is imparting skills in various trades. At present the centre is offering training in 3 trades including auto mechanic, electrical wiring, and welding. To date 300 students have obtained training in these trades and 52 more are under training. There is a demand for courses in computer programming and refrigeration and air-conditioning. The Department of Industries has also established a Carpet Centre, a Mazri Centre, and a Leather Embroidery Centre where local youth are learning skills.

Middle Schools

In Kech, there are 33 boys and 6 girls middle schools. These schools provide education up to the 8th grade which includes a primary section as well. Ideally the staff of a middle school comprises Secondary School Teachers, Junior English Teachers, Junior Arabic Teachers, Drawing Master, Physical Training Instructor, Mualim-ul-Quran, and Junior Vernacular Teachers. The teacher-student ratio in the primary section of the boys middle schools is 1:23 and in girls middle schools is 1:77. This ratio for middle sections of the boys middle schools and girls middle schools is 1:17 and 1:29 respectively.

High Schools

Kech has 23 boys and 2 girls high schools. All the high schools in the district have all the 3 sections: primary, middle, and high. In addition to the sanctioned teaching staff for a middle school, every high school has a head master/mistress and subject specialists. There is one model high school for boys at Turbat under a Principal. In the boys high schools teacher-student ratio for the primary, middle, and high sections is 1:33, 1:21, and 1:11 respectively. For the female students in the girls high schools this ratio is 1:50 for the primary section, 1:51 for the middle section, and 1:30 for the high section.

Degree College

The district has two degree colleges, one for boys and one for girls, and two intermediate colleges for boys. The boys college in Turbat was established in 1969 at the intermediate level. In 1980 degree classes were started for the boys. The students are taught both science and arts subjects in these colleges. The other two boys inter colleges are located at Buleda and Tump. In 1996, there were 1,713 boys and 128 girls at the intermediate level while the degree students comprised 225 boys and 24 girls. At present teaching staff of all these colleges is 33 in total.

The girls of the district have a separate college building but they do not have female teachers. Initially the Intermediate classes were started in 1989 in the building of the boys college. The building for the girls college was constructed in 1995. The girl students are taught by the male teachers of the boys college in the afternoon. The male teachers are paid a honorarium of Rs 1,200 for teaching girl students. In this way the Government of Balochistan is saving a big amount on account of teachers salaries. On the other hand, absence of female teachers is a major reason behind the small number of regular girl students at the degree college because many of the parents do not like to send their young girls to male teachers.

School Administration

There are two District Education Officers in Kech, one for the boys and the other for the girls, who administer the government schools system in Kech. They are assisted by Sub Divisional Education Officers and other auxiliary staff. Every high school is headed by a Head Master (in BPS 17), middle school by a Senior Science Teacher as Head Master (in BPS 16), and primary schools are headed by a senior Junior Vernacular Teacher (in BPS 7).

School Buildings

The building of primary schools in Kech usually consists of only one room, either kacha (made of mud or un-baked bricks) or pakka (made of baked bricks or cement blocks) and even this one room is not available in some schools. There are 99 shelterless primary schools out of which 12 are for girls. A boundary wall is not present outside some of the girls primary schools. A toilet is a rare facility in the primary schools.

Usually a middle school is provided with 5 class rooms and toilet facilities. According to the specifications provided by the Department of Education, a boundary wall is not necessarily provided outside the girls middle schools. The high schools are supposed to have 15-20 class rooms with a toilet and a boundary wall.

Although the budget for construction and repair work of the school buildings is allocated on district basis, the Third Education Project and the Primary Education Department are responsible for using this budget. The planning for construction work is centralised and the concerned headmaster is rarely consulted in this regard. This practice sometimes results in inappropriate utilisation of funds.

GO/NGO/private, etc. involvement in Education Development

The provincial government is the main actor in provision of educational facilities to the people in Kech. The Primary Education Development Project in collaboration with the Primary Education Quality Improvement Programme has sub-contracted the Rural Community Development Council for opening community-run girls primary schools. The private sector is also involved in imparting education through primary schools.

Conclusion and major Development Issues

The education facilities for girls are poor compared to those for the boys. In absolute figures only 2 girls go to primary school against 3 boys. In addition the girls/teachers ratio is 74, while that of the boys is 25 at primary level.

The presence of a girls’ college is a special feature in Kech. However, the girls in Kech face great problems in getting college education in the absence of female teachers. This not only deprives the girls of an equal opportunity for higher education but also results in unavailability of educated women for the health and education sectors. An approximately 12 times high teacher-student ratio for the girl college students validates this assumption.

There should be some refresher courses for school teachers. The teachers are not appropriately trained for teaching. Many schools do not function due to absence of teaching staff. Buildings of the schools hardly meet the needs. Most of the primary schools are single room schools and the students have to sit under the trees or sky in some schools. Girls’ schools do not have a boundary wall. A teacher-pupil ratio for girls at primary level is about three times the one for boys.

The SPO education programme is a unique programme, which may be replicated.