TAXILA: The initiative of the government to achieve 100pc enrollment and improve the literacy rate seems a political gimmick as most of the schools in rural areas lack basic facilities such as classrooms and teaching staff.
Looking at the state of affairs at the Government Girls’ High School Bhallar Jogi in Hassanabdal, it seems the government has no clear vision to enroll the seven million out-of-school children with many of the existing schools lacking infrastructure to accommodate the newcomers.
The Bhallar Jogi high school is the only educational institution catering to 12 villages of Kawwan, Mansoora, Kalu Pind, Dhoke Pathan, Khana Kotha, Meerpur, Utmanabad, Mohri, Ismailia, Tarbhitti, Bhadian and Bhallar Jogi.
But due to the shortage of classrooms, hundreds of students in the school are forced to take their classes sitting in the open in all the weather conditions. The apathy of the education department authorities can be judged from the fact that there are only seven classrooms in the high school having over 700 students divided into 14 sections.
As there is no higher secondary school or an intermediate college for girls in the area, only those students who afford the travel expenses and have no family taboos can get higher education at a college located in the Hassanabdal city at a distance of 18 kilometres from the villages.
Due to the non-construction of new classrooms, eight of the 12 kanals land of the school still remains unutilised. There are 13 teachers in the school and three posts are vacant.
Amna Bibi, a student of class II, told Dawn that she always attended classes in the open and wished to sit in a classroom.
Shazia Khursheed, a class VIII student, said in case of rain students of other classes shared their desks, making it impossible for them to concentrate on their study.
Khalida Perveen, a class X student, said the door of higher education had been closed on the girl students. She said the nearest girls’ degree college was located at a distance of about 18 kilometres.
Samina, another student of the same class, said parents of most of the students were either agricultural labourers or peasants and could not afford continuing the education of their children after the secondary school certificate (SSC) level.
“Though basic education must be the top priority of every government, this has not been the case in Pakistan. The condition and quality of education in government schools are deteriorating,” said Aksar Awan, a social worker.
“Education is the only tool that can break the inter-generational cycle of oppression, abuse and poverty of women,” said Munaza Peerzada, the president of an NGO which is working on education and women empowerment. She said in Pakistan girl students faced some of the highest barriers in education.
She said it had been estimated that nearly 62pc of out-of-school girls were unlikely ever to enroll in schools as compared to 27pc of boys in the country. She said 43pc of women faced religious discrimination at workplace, educational institutions and neighbourhood.
When contacted, Riaz Begum, the headmistress of the school, said in case of rain the students were adjusted in the available classrooms though this created a mess. She said the school had eight kanals of land available for the construction of more classrooms. She said requests for the construction of new classrooms had been forwarded to the district education authorities but action was yet to be taken.
Chief Executive Officer District Education Authority Attock Shakoor Anjum said due to the shortage of funds no additional classrooms were being constructed in any school in the district.
He said Rs200 million had been released by the provincial government for the provision of missing facilities in schools which were spent on different projects. He said funds for the construction of additional classrooms would be allocated in the development plan of the next fiscal year.
About the upgradation of the school to the higher secondary level, the official said he had no such power and the approval could only be given by the chief minister office.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2017
Looking at the state of affairs at the Government Girls’ High School Bhallar Jogi in Hassanabdal, it seems the government has no clear vision to enroll the seven million out-of-school children with many of the existing schools lacking infrastructure to accommodate the newcomers.
The Bhallar Jogi high school is the only educational institution catering to 12 villages of Kawwan, Mansoora, Kalu Pind, Dhoke Pathan, Khana Kotha, Meerpur, Utmanabad, Mohri, Ismailia, Tarbhitti, Bhadian and Bhallar Jogi.
But due to the shortage of classrooms, hundreds of students in the school are forced to take their classes sitting in the open in all the weather conditions. The apathy of the education department authorities can be judged from the fact that there are only seven classrooms in the high school having over 700 students divided into 14 sections.
As there is no higher secondary school or an intermediate college for girls in the area, only those students who afford the travel expenses and have no family taboos can get higher education at a college located in the Hassanabdal city at a distance of 18 kilometres from the villages.
Due to the non-construction of new classrooms, eight of the 12 kanals land of the school still remains unutilised. There are 13 teachers in the school and three posts are vacant.
Amna Bibi, a student of class II, told Dawn that she always attended classes in the open and wished to sit in a classroom.
Shazia Khursheed, a class VIII student, said in case of rain students of other classes shared their desks, making it impossible for them to concentrate on their study.
Khalida Perveen, a class X student, said the door of higher education had been closed on the girl students. She said the nearest girls’ degree college was located at a distance of about 18 kilometres.
Samina, another student of the same class, said parents of most of the students were either agricultural labourers or peasants and could not afford continuing the education of their children after the secondary school certificate (SSC) level.
“Though basic education must be the top priority of every government, this has not been the case in Pakistan. The condition and quality of education in government schools are deteriorating,” said Aksar Awan, a social worker.
“Education is the only tool that can break the inter-generational cycle of oppression, abuse and poverty of women,” said Munaza Peerzada, the president of an NGO which is working on education and women empowerment. She said in Pakistan girl students faced some of the highest barriers in education.
She said it had been estimated that nearly 62pc of out-of-school girls were unlikely ever to enroll in schools as compared to 27pc of boys in the country. She said 43pc of women faced religious discrimination at workplace, educational institutions and neighbourhood.
When contacted, Riaz Begum, the headmistress of the school, said in case of rain the students were adjusted in the available classrooms though this created a mess. She said the school had eight kanals of land available for the construction of more classrooms. She said requests for the construction of new classrooms had been forwarded to the district education authorities but action was yet to be taken.
Chief Executive Officer District Education Authority Attock Shakoor Anjum said due to the shortage of funds no additional classrooms were being constructed in any school in the district.
He said Rs200 million had been released by the provincial government for the provision of missing facilities in schools which were spent on different projects. He said funds for the construction of additional classrooms would be allocated in the development plan of the next fiscal year.
About the upgradation of the school to the higher secondary level, the official said he had no such power and the approval could only be given by the chief minister office.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2017
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