In what could be dubbed as the government’s sheer disregard towards education, a government primary girl school in the federal capital has been running with the support of masses for ages.
A senior official on condition of anonymity told Pakistan Today that the Federal Department of Education (FDE) run government girl primary school had been set-up in a five-marla rented building in Shakrial in 1988, and since then no government ever made any effort to construct a separate building where this school could be shifted.
The official said that the government paid Rs 120,000 annually for the school, while they paid an amount of Rs 19,500 to the owner of the building under the head of rent.
When asked how they maintained the expenses, the official said that the teachers of the school are contributing from their salaries to make the school functional, while philanthropists are also playing their part in the noble cause.
Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights, as every individual—irrespective of race, gender, nationality, ethnic or social origin, religion or political preference, age or disability—is entitled to a free elementary education.
This right has been universally recognised since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and has since been enshrined in various international conventions, national constitutions and development plans. Yet, millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities—many as a result of poverty.
The official said there was no furniture in the schools and last year plastic chairs worth Rs 35,000 were bought because the students were facing great problems, especially in winter to sit on the floor.
“There are poor and orphans students, who could not bear the expenses of education, which is why the staffers of the school are saving even a penny from the allocated fund so as their study could not be affected,” said a teacher in the school.
She said that most of the students are so poor they come to school without breakfast, “so we make arrangements in the school for their breakfast.”
The teacher said that they bought copies, uniforms and pencils for the students mostly from their own pocket saving because the government’s fund is too little to meet the growing needs.
Under article 25-A of the constitution, the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 5-16 years in a manner as determined by law; however, even then, Pakistan has the highest number of out of school children at 24 million only after Nigeria.
Talking to Pakistan Today, school’s headmistress, Rizala Atamina, confirmed that the school was indeed in a rented building; however, she maintained that the students were facing no problems because of the devoted staffers of the school.
She said the teaching staffs were making all-out efforts to provide the students with the best study environment, and results of the school spoke volume of it.
Rizala said that there were 260 students in the school, whereas there were 15 teachers, adding that the school had two washrooms.
“If there is a will to do something, then nothing could stop you from achieving the set target,” the determined teacher vowed, who did not even take a single casual leave since 2008.
However, she demanded that the authority concerned should provide Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) units to the school, as the poor students were facing great problems in the summer season when there was prolonged power outage.
Prime Minister’s Education Reforms Programme was launched in December 2015 with great pomp in order to bring about revolutionary changes in the education sector by upgrading and renovating schools, which has so far brought cosmetic changes in only 22 of the schools.
However, a senior official said that the FDE runs 422 educational institutions, of which 22 were renovated in the first phase of the PM Education Reform Programme, and the remaining would be upgraded in the second phase.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was taking a special interest in the improvement of education, which is why he took a strong notice of a lack of progress in PM Education Reform Programme, and ordered the release of Rs 1 billion for the government schools forthwith.
