June 09, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 04, 1429

NAWABSHAH, June 8: The future of more than 250 students, and of teaching and non-teaching staff of the Bahria Foundation School, Nawabshah, hangs in the balance as the Sindh government has refused to extend agreement under which the school building was hired.

Bahria Foundation, a subsidiary of Pakistan Navy, runs schools in different parts of Sindh including Nawabshah, Naushahro Feroze, Kandiaro, Ranipur, Khairpur, Tando Adam, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad.

The Foundation took possession of a building of the Sindh government on Qazi Ahmed Road on July 17, 2001 and signed an agreement for seven years. The agreement on July 17, 2008.

The Sindh Education Department recently regretted the request of Bahria Foundation to extend the contract and asked the District Education Department to take possession of the building.

Abdul Qadir Qureshi, Principal, the Bahria Foundation Nawabshah, told Dawn the institution was providing quality education to 260 students with the help of 27 teaching and 21 non-teaching staff. They all will suffer because of the decision.

He said there was no reason of not extending the agreement as the Foundation was a reputable organization running a number of schools across the country. He said if the institution was running in loss, the problem was of the Foundation not the government.District Coordination Officer Khursheed Naeem Malik told Dawn that the building was the property of Sindh government and earlier a public school was also run on the same premises. He said it regretted the extension of agreement with the Bahria School while the district government will take control of the building soon.

He said there was no proposal of running a public school as it was an autonomous body, however, the district government would run the school.

Executive District Officer Education, Nawabshah, Razi Khan Jamali said that he had received a copy of the letter from the Sindh Education Department informing the agreement of Bahria was not being extended. He said if the District Education Department was asked to run the school, they would make a plan and make it successful.

More than 700 primary schools running under the District Education Department had been closed in various parts of district for years.

The parents and employees of Bahria Foundation Nawabshah have demanded of the Chief Minister and other concerned to take notice of the issue and save future of children and jobs of staff.