PESHAWAR, Nov 12: About 1,300 students are taking classes in a dilapidated building which has been declared unsafe by the Building Control Authority (BCA), Town-I after the Oct 8 earthquake.

Officials said that the education department had also directed the school administration to vacate the building as soon as possible and shift the students to another city building.

“We have evacuated the upper-storey but still the students are taking classes on the ground floor as there is no other option,” said Ms Mumliqat Tajdaar, principal of Begum Shahabuddin Girls Higher Secondary School.

Lives of more than 1,000 students of the school located in the old Peshawar City, are at risk as they are taking classes in a building declared dangerous.

The buildings of three girls’ schools, one at Peshawar Cantonment, another at Jogiwarha locality in the Peshawar City and BS school were damaged in the last month’s quake. The education department directed to vacate the buildings and declared them dangerous.

“Cracks are visible in the upper-storey and even ground floor,” said Ms Tajdaar.

A group of students of the Intermediate at BS school said that they felt unsafe in the school building. The laboratories in the upper-storey are closed and the academic session of the students is getting disturbed, Ms Rubina, a science teacher said.

Some 1,312 students from primary level up to higher secondary level are studying on floor in the building.

“There are more than 120 students in each section. We all feel very uneasy and scared while attending our classes,” said Maryam, a student of Intermediate. There is already shortage of buildings suitable for schools so it is difficult to shift and adjust more than 1,000 students to another school, said Ms Tajdaar, adding the students of Jogiwarha school are already facing with non-availability of school building.

Some 1,340 students of Government Girls High School, Jogiwarha, had to protest to draw the attention of the education authorities.

The building, which was initially a Sikh temple, was being used as a school since 1923. The school was upgraded to a high school in 1973 and since that time has become old and dangerous, informed the principal Bushra Khatoon.

“The roof was already shaky and there were many cracks in the building even before the quake and I had informed the authorities about the problem,” Ms Khatoon said.

The students of Jogiwarha protested two days ago against the concerned authorities for their inability to provide them a building after their evacuation from the Jogiwarha school.

There is no other building available and the education authorities decided to adjust the students in a nearby middle school for boys. The boys are to be shifted to another school as their strength is low.

“The problem is that the administration of that school is not leaving the building and we have no where else to go,” said Ms Khatoon.

The old building of Government Girls High School No.1, Peshawar Cantt was also affected by the quake and students were shifted to a school in Notia locality where the students are faced with problem of over-crowdedness in their classes.

“The process of creating a consolidated programme for reconstruction of these affected schools is time-consuming,” the official said.

The EDO schools, the concerned Town-I Nazim and district Nazim were not available for comment.