ISLAMABAD: The incumbent government has made endless claims of revolutionising the education sector; however, the damaged boundary wall of Ali Abbas Shaheed Model College for Boys (VI-XII) G-6/2 Islamabad disproves such claims.
The government, soon after coming into power started aggressive campaign to reform the education sector under the Prime Minister Education Reform Initiative. Maryam Safdar, daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took the gauntlet to make the dream a reality, spearheading the Education Initiative 2015.
However, hardly any substantial change in the education sector can be seen as the government now enters the final year of its tenure.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Zahid Anwar, a resident of the G-6 locality, said that the government has spent more money on advertisement than real change.
“Look at the damaged boundary wall of the college, located in the heart of the federal capital, giving a clear picture of the apathy of the authority concerned,” he lamented.
Zahid said that the boundary wall of the college collapsed a day after its completion but no one has bothered to take notice and no one held accountable.
The concerned authority has yet to remove the debris of the damaged boundary wall despite a lapse of about a year, he added.
“Since all the affairs are running on the basis of commission, nepotism and favouritism instead of giving contracts to honest and competent contractors, this is the result,” said Tousif Abbasi, a teacher in private school.
He said it is no longer a secret that education is not in government’s priority list and the abysmal condition of the colleges speaks volumes of it.
Besides, the locals said that the damaged boundary wall and allowing strangers to use the college lawn as a routine route could pose a serious security issue; hence the practice should be forbidden, as the damaged boundary wall should be constructed without further delay.
A senior official in the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) told this scribe that he himself saw the damaged college and that it is quite unfortunate that no attention has been paid to rebuild the wall despite the college being located in a very sensitive area.
He said that the government initiated PM’s Education Reforms Programme with great enthusiasm in the federal capital, but soon it lost its attraction mainly due to Maryam Safdar’s losing focus from the program.
Despite repeated attempts and text messages, General Federal Directorate of Education Director Hasnat Qureshi could not be reached for his comments on the issue.
