April 24, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1429

MUZAFFARGARH, April 23: The fate of a school built by the Raj in 1927 for the people of Muzaffargarh hangs in balance. TMA officials currently in control of the school building say they will build a butchers’ market at the place, while some other people concerned say the building will be rebuilt for students.

There are six girls and as many boys primary and middle schools in Muzaffargarh district that were built before the partition. These schools were given to municipal committees after the inception of Pakistan.

The school in question, Municipal Primary School No 4, is spread on three kanals of land in the heart of the city that is estimated to be worth millions of rupees, but the district government and education department have failed to run it. The school building, which consists of five rooms and an office, has been declared dangerous by the education department.

Because of its dilapidated condition the school looks like a haunted place. Moreover, it has become a safe haven for anti-social elements. People living in the neighbourhood say they are very upset at the misuse of the place.

Last year, the municipal authorities made the teachers leave the school and rented out the building to butchers. The schoolteachers went to District Coordination Officer Tariq Najmi for help. The DCO took action and restored the school.

A teacher said local officials often harassed the school staff and attacked the building to get its complete control. He said the school, which had 50 students and two teachers, was without furniture. He said TMA officials were discouraging new enrolments in the school. He said some union naib nazims were showing interest in the school land because they wanted to run there a butchers’ market. He said four of the six schoolteachers had retired and now the TMA was waiting for the retirement of the remaining two teachers who would retire over the next eight months. Keeping in view its ‘design’, the TMA has not filled the vacant posts of teachers.

District Monitoring Officer Syed Naveed Alam Shah said a monitoring team had written to the National Logistic Corporation (NLC) to reconstruct the school, adding that work on the school would begin in June.

Executive District Officer for Education Sultan Bhagaila said he had written to NLC about the poor condition of the school building.

Tehsil Municipal Officer Fareed Khirani said the tehsil municipal administration wanted to construct a market on the school land. Currently, several people are running their makeshift shops outside the school.