The Sindh government has expanded its Sundar STEM initiative across the province and invited private schools to enrol talented students in the Virtual STEM School, widening access to a free online learning platform that was initially offered through government institutions. The Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh has issued a circular to all regions, including Karachi, asking the administrations and principals of private schools to register eligible students. The move gives children in private schools the chance to join a programme that is delivered entirely over the internet, so a student does not have to travel to a specific campus or training centre to take part.
Under the initiative, students will receive free online training in three areas: mathematics, computer programming, and English language skills. Mathematics and programming are subjects where early exposure can make a lasting difference, since they build the problem solving habits on which later study in engineering, computer science, and data related fields depends, while English remains the main language of higher education and of the global technology industry. By combining the three in one platform, the programme aims to prepare gifted school students for competitions and for further study, and it provides a structured path that many families would otherwise have to pay for in private tuition or academies.
The circular points to results from the first phase of the programme. Talented students from nine districts of the Hyderabad region have already enrolled on the Sundar STEM platform, and students from Hyderabad performed well at the National Mathematics Contest held in Lahore. These outcomes are cited as evidence that online training can produce strong performance among students who live outside the largest cities. To coordinate the initiative, the Director of School Education (Secondary) Hyderabad has been appointed as the focal person, which gives school administrations a single point of contact for questions about registration, eligibility, and participation.
The announcement comes as provincial governments across Pakistan are using digital platforms to deliver teaching in subjects where qualified teachers are hard to find. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has registered 331 government schools with the Global Virtual School for science, mathematics, English, and computer science, and has started a pilot of artificial intelligence supported learning under the E-Basta project. Sindh’s decision to open its own virtual STEM platform to private schools shows that the idea is spreading, and that education departments see online delivery as a practical way to reach large numbers of students at low cost. The next step will be to see how many private schools respond to the circular, how students are selected, and whether results seen in the Hyderabad region can be repeated in Karachi and other parts of the province.
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