The condition of around 2,600 of the 3,752 schools under the administrative control of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) is in a deplorable condition all thanks to the indolent attitude of the authorities concerned, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Hefty funds that are apparently being used on educational institutions of the city have brought no good changes to majority of the primary and secondary schools that are still running without basic facilities, sources in the CDGK education department said.
The city government-run schools do not have potable water, electricity, furniture, bookshops, canteens and playgrounds, forcing the students to enrol at private educational institutions.
Although the CDGK seemingly spends millions of rupees on these schools every year and a huge amount is allocated for education in the budget, the reality is that these schools are in a pitiable condition. Lacking proper space, most of these schools are running on the premises of other government schools only to hoard hefty funds for education.
Students of a girls’ primary school are forced to travel eight more kilometres daily to reach the school where it has been relocated for attending their regular classes, whereas another girls’ primary school is being run about a kilometre away from its original location. Besides them, hundreds of other underprivileged students residing near Askari Park also have to travel long distances because those at the helm of affairs do not take their job seriously.
The situation of the boys’ primary schools is also similar, and in the absence of their own buildings, the administrations of these schools have cut down the timings of the classes by 80 minutes. Negligence of the authorities concerned could be gauged from the state of these government schools that have no drinking water, sweepers and windowpanes, whereas the condition of the doors and the furniture is also dismal.