Karachi (AsiaNews) – The Directorate General of Private Institutions Sindh paid tribute to local missionary schools in a ceremony held on Thursday at the Sindh’s Boy Scouts headquarters. Teachers, government officials and students attended the event.
About 116 missionary schools operate in Sindh offering quality education at affordable prices to more than 56,000 students. Fees cost between 350 and 4,000 Pakistani rupees (US$ 2.10 and US$ 24).
Rafia Mallah, Registrar with the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh, thanked principals, teachers and collaborators "for carrying out their task with the utmost sincerity and dedication and for providing equal learning opportunities to children from different ethnic and religious backgrounds with great love and care.”
“Missionary schools,” she added, “have done a lot for the future of Pakistan".
Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah admitted that due to the exceptional services of missionary schools, the ceremony should have been organised much sooner.
"Missionary schools have provided quality education to the country’s children for over 160 years, long before the founding of Pakistan,” he said. “These institutes are the backbone of knowledge in our country.”
Sardar then announced that he plans to visit missionary schools and hear principals’ complaints. Many student buildings are in fact old and in need of an upgrade, institutes such as St Patrick's School and St Joseph's Convent School, founded in 1861 and 1862 respectively.
At the end of the ceremony, prizes and awards were handed out to principals and teachers for their work in the field of education.
