VEHARI, Oct 22: The Government Girls’ High School in F-Block has been functioning without any headmistress for the past one year, Dawn has learnt. Around 3,750 girl students are enrolled to this oldest school of the district. The school was set up in 1938 and in 1958 it was upgraded to high school.

The absence of institutional head has affected academic activities and performance of students. A teacher said discipline and morale among teachers and administrative staff was at a low ebb. She said political interference had delayed the appointment of the headmistress. She said former headmistress Nasreen Abdul Haq had been terminated for negligence in duty one year ago. Now some ruling party representatives wanted to get appointed their favourite teacher as headmistress, she claimed.

Senior teacher Abida Bhatti said staff and students were facing a host of problems because of the absence of the school head. She said the school lacked drinking water facilities, classrooms for class 9 and 10, and teaching staff. Fifty-five teachers are working at the school while 10 posts are vacant. She said the school needed a tubewell to meet students’ need for drinking water. She demanded the government repair school building and furniture.

Sabeha Khatoon, also a teacher, said there were 39 classrooms in the school, and one classroom accommodated 50 to 60 students. She said the district government had constructed a hall for technical workshops in the school, but male staff of the Education Department had been using it as examination branch of class five and eight for the last five years. She said no workshop could be held here in the last five years in the school. Material meant for technical teachings was expired, she said. She said they had asked the Education Department to get the hall vacated but no action was taken.

Executive District Officer (education) Naseem Mansoor said the district government had spent over Rs1 million on government schools in the district. She said all requirements of the school would be met soon, including the appointment of headmistress. She denied any political interference in delaying the appointment of headmistress.

She said due to shortage of buildings in the Education Department, the examination branch was working in the school hall. She said after the construction of new EDO office on Multan Road, the examination branch would be shifted to there. She said if the school management felt any problem due to the examination branch, they should inform the authorities.