KARACHI: Free education plan falls prey to lack of amenities in schools
By Ali Hazrat Bacha
KARACHI, Oct 22: The government’s policy of free education has largely encouraged the poor to send their children to schools, but long standing problems like shortage of staff, classrooms, furniture and other basic facilities at the schools have only aggravated the situation.
The secondary schools located in Orangi Town are not an exception. Even the decades old schools are running short of staff and other basic requirements. Though the government has stopped charging admission fee and started providing textbooks free of cost to students up to secondary level, owing to lack of proper facilities at these schools the number of students could not be increased.
Schoolteachers say that increasing the number of students means to multiply the problems for themselves. They admit that the government’s policy of free education has encouraged the poor to send their children to the schools, but it is impossible for school administrations to accommodate them. It was for this reason that majority of schools avoid offering new admissions.
During a survey, it was observed that the secondary schools of Orangi while facing the shortage of teachers or classrooms have planned to accommodate students of different classes in one room. Teaching students of different classes in one room appears more like a public meeting. The classrooms are not spacious in all the schools to bifurcate the classes and in such a situation the quality of education is hard to be maintained. Non-availability or shortage of basic requirements like water, electricity, furniture and lab equipment are common grievances of students and teachers.
The government provides a limited fund to the schools through the Schools Management Committees or Parents Teachers Association for meeting the urgent expenditures and maintenance of minor nature every year, but very few school heads are in a position to show where the funds were used.
Teachers suggest that honest officials should be assigned duties to probe into the mismanagement of funds and exemplary action should be taken against all those involved in the malpractices.
Opposing transfers and postings on political grounds, they mention that those having a political influence can have posting at any station of their choice. Apparently, the most affected are the female teachers because majority of them have to travel to far away stations. On this pretext, teachers come to the schools at least an hour late.
When this reporter visited the Govt Boys Secondary School, Aligarh Colony, on Friday at 10.50am, about 30 students and a watchman were present but none of the teachers had come. Students played cricket and left the school following which the watchman closed the main gate.
The Govt Girls’ Secondary School, Mujahid Colony, located in Orangi Town’s Sector 8-L, has only two teachers for 250 students. The school has eight classrooms but owing to shortage of teachers, students of different classes sit together. Water and lavatories are not available in the school premises. Electricity has been drawn through an illegal hook. Termites have hollowed the doors, windows and furniture.
The teachers said that there were no ceiling fan in classrooms and students sometimes get unconscious due to suffocation. At least 10 fans were required for the time being, they said. Students sit on mats as the furniture is insufficient and that too needed repairs. Despite the students’ demands, there is no arrangement for science and computer labs.
The posts of PTI, watchman, clerks, sweeper and teachers of different subjects have been vacant since long.
The Govt Boys Secondary School, Mujahid Colony, has five teachers for 50 students. However, the school lacks proper furniture and mostly students sit on mats. Water and toilet facilities are not available while electricity has been drawn through an illegally hooked connection.
The Govt Boys Secondary School, located in Sector 13/G of Orangi, having 12 classrooms is comparatively in better condition. There are 22 teachers for 475 students.
The science and computer laboratories have been established but regular classes could not be started due to non-availability of computer operator and instructors. The teachers told Dawn that the science lab was lacking chemicals, as the government paid only Rs2,000 for purchase of chemicals. For the power supply, the school use illegal connection.
The Govt Boys Secondary School, Sector 8/L Orangi No 9, has seven teachers while the number of students is 120.
The teachers said that the school had been upgraded from lower secondary about one year ago, but the facilities and number of the staff was yet to be increased. They said that once the students were given admission in Class IX, but due to shortage of teachers the high classes could not be continued.
Power supply to the school has been disconnected due to non-payment of bills. There is no toilet facility for the staff. Windows and doors have been hollowed by termites. Besides, there is no arrangement for water supply.
The posts of watchman, sweeper and teachers of different subjects have been vacant since long.
In Govt Boys Secondary School, Ebrahim Ali Bhai, located in Orangi Town No 9, has 14 teachers for about 400 students. Ten more teachers were required to meet the requirement. There is an acute shortage of furniture in classrooms.
Teachers said that computer systems had been provided to the school but regular classes could not be started due to non-availability of instructors.
The Govt Girls’ Secondary School, Ebrahim Ali Bhai, Sector 9/E has around 1,022 students. Twenty teachers posted at the school have to take extra classes as more teachers were required to fulfil the school’s requirement. All the students could not be accommodated easily in the existing 16 classrooms and teachers suggested that their number should be increased to 35.
The water supply has been stopped due to damaged supply line, while the water tank has also been demolished by the works department for its reconstruction which could not take place for unknown reasons.
The Govt Girls’ Secondary School, Raees Amrohvi, has been functioning since 1996, but its statement of new expenditures (SNE) has not been approved yet. For over 100 students, there are three teachers at the school. At least five more teachers are required. Despite having a laboratory, science subjects are not taught in the school owing to lack of staff.
The Govt Girls’ Secondary School, Ebrahim Ali Bhai, Orangi Town’s Sector-10, has 35 teachers for 1,200 students. The school has 20 classrooms, but the furniture is next to nil. The overcrowded classrooms lack ceiling fans.
For 1,200 students, the school neither has water supply arrangement nor any toilet facility.
Computer classes had been started, but suspended due to lack of resources to hire a private instructor and operator. Besides other teachers, the post of physical training instructor and peon has been vacant since long.
The Govt Boys Secondary School, Ebrahim Ali Bhai, located in Orangi No 10, has 39 teachers for 700 students. The school has neither water nor electricity and the classrooms have only 30 desks, while the rest of classrooms are empty. Teachers disclosed that an application to the concerned officials had been forwarded for provision of 500 desks, 45 ceiling fans, and two watchmen for the day and night duties. It was said that drug addicts used to enter the building by scaling the boundary wall and had taken away furniture from the classrooms as there was no watchman posted at the school.
Teachers said that there was no higher secondary school in the locality. They said that two secondary and four primary schools were functioning in the same area. They said that there was a need to establish a higher secondary school so that students could continue their education.
The Govt Girls Secondary School, Qatar Mor, has seven teachers for 454 students. There are only four classrooms and rest of the classes are conducted in the veranda. The head mistress disclosed that the four classrooms had no furniture and students were asked to sit on mats.
Pointing out that the posts of peon, watchman and teachers have been lying vacant, she asked for posting of at least five teachers and construction of as many class rooms in the school. She said that her school showed 84 per cent result in the last SSC exam and a student also obtained outstanding position in the board, but despite that the school’s problems were not solved.
The Cosmopolitan Girls School, Aligarh Colony, has been upgraded from the lower secondary level some years ago, but neither the number of teachers was increased nor the required facilities had been provided so far. The school has seven teachers for 609 students. Out of 13 classrooms, three are without furniture.
The headmistress told Dawn that the posts of sweeper, watchman and many teachers had been vacant. She said that the SNE for the secondary classes had not been approved so far. She pointed out that there was no water even in the washrooms.
The Govt Girls Higher Secondary School, Baba Wilayat Ali Shah, has been upgraded but the intermediate classes are yet to be started as the staff and other requirements have not been fulfilled so far. It has six teachers for 426 students.
The headmistress said that there were no water and toilet facilities. She said that at least five more teachers were required including the PTI, Arabic teacher, Sindhi language teacher and science teachers. She asked for supply of electricity and provision of 12 ceiling fans for classrooms.
The Govt Boys Secondary School, Baba Wilayat Ali Shah (afternoon shift) has a total seven teachers, while the number of students is 250. The school has neither watchman nor sweeper. The electricity, water and toilets facilities are next to nil. The headmaster disclosed that free textbooks had not been provided to the school yet.
