Poor condition of public school

The majority of public schools lack basic facilities, including clean drinking water, proper furniture etc. Like other past governments, the present government is also spending a large chunk of the budget on defence. Rs 442.2 billion was allocated for defence in the fiscal year 2010-2011. The primary education sector must be the government’s top priority. The condition of the government primary schools in the city and the quality of education being imparted there is going from bad to worse.

Many government schools exist on paper only. School buildings, mostly in rural areas, have been converted to drawing rooms for local landowners or cattle sheds while the children are forced to study under trees or out in the open.

An example of this is the Government Primary School, Hamaad Colony, which has no roofs despite being situated right in the heart of the provincial capital. There are a lot other public schools whose infrastructure is beyond dilapidated. Many schools have no furniture in classrooms, and lack a teaching staff, toilets, clean drinking water and playground.

Clean drinking water has always been a big issue for public schools. A number of schools in the city have no water tanks and some that have them don’t have drinkable water. The water tanks are not clean and are infested with insects. A number of public school students get sick after drinking water from these tanks.

As a result of these conditions, poor parents have found alternatives. According to the World Bank, 1 percent students leave public schools to attend madrassahs as they offer food and lodging in addition to religious education. Middle class people are compelled to send their children to private schools. These private schools charge high fees from the parents already labouring under hyper-inflation.

The government must concentrate on the education sector and take revolutionary steps to improve it. The primary education sector needs to be brought up to modern educational standards. This is the need of the country and its teeming millions.

SANIA REHAN

Karachi