LARKANA/Thatta: July 31, 2015. (Nazir Siyal) Over 30 ghost schools have been re-opened in Mirpur Sakro, these schools had been closed over 3-5 years due to unavailability of teachers, sources told re-established due to joint efforts of District Education Department and community. The local NGO Alif Ailaan education campaign along with partners’ organization, Sindh Radiant Organization (SRO) and National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), community participation efforts and local MPA Syed Amir Haider Sherazi in Thatta sources disclosed. According to Irfan Samo of SRO, there were over 150 non-functioning schools across the district, many of which were closed due to a combination of administrative and social neglect. He said that getting them reopened and working again was a question of convincing the local communities to raise the issue officially, and giving them an opportunity to engage with department officials and political leadership on the matter. In a seminar organized in Mirpur Sakro by Alif Ailaan and SRO in April, parents and local communities had gotten a chance to interact with MPA Amir Sherazi, Tehsil Education Officers Basharat and Noor Sahi and other Education officials to discuss problems of schooling in their neighborhoods. Community members had identified multiple issues with local education during the seminar, including teacher absenteeism and non-availability of facilities, following which Shirazi and the concerned officials promised to take action. In the weeks following the seminar, government officials identified over 30 ghost schools and took measures to functioning them. According to education department sources, the schools were re-opened by transferring teachers from other schools where they were posted in surplus. They said that the transfers were made within the same geographical cluster of schools in order to minimize transportation distance for teachers. He said that improving the capacity of the department for monitoring schools was very important. Commenting on the matter, Irfan Samo from SRO said that it was critical that communities were provided with the facts about their education system and given an opportunity to interact with government officials who are responsible for providing education. He said such kinds of discussions between communities and politicians on education would help raise the political importance of education and encourage more action from both parents and political leadership to improve the availability quality of education in their communities. Khalid Jarwar of NRSP said that it was important that there was a regular process of engagement and review of progress between communities and political leadership regarding the state of the education system. It was only through the involvement of parents in local communities that the quality of schools could be effectively monitored, he said, adding that a permanent forum for such interactions should be created at the sub-district level.