Schools in Balochistan lack basic facilities

Published December 2, 2014
A view of a government school in Quetta, the provincial capital city of Balochistan.   — Dawn/file
A view of a government school in Quetta, the provincial capital city of Balochistan. — Dawn/file

QUETTA: Education authorities were criticised at a seminar on Monday for allegedly paying more to department’s employees than spending funds on improving institutions.

Speakers lamented at the condition of schools, especially those for girls, where even toilets were not accessible to students and teachers.

An NGO Balochistan Rural Support Program (BRSP) had organised the seminar titled: “The participation of Rural Population in Development Process of Balochistan.”

Adviser to Chief Minister on Education Sardar Raza Mohammad Barech said that some 12,000 villages were bereft of even a single school because of the scarcity of funds.

He called upon the private sector, politicians and tribal elders to help in setting up of schools in their respective areas, while admitting that a large number of girls’ schools lacked basic facilities.

He said funds allocated to Balochistan were spent on teachers’ salaries in billions but their performance was zero because a large number of teachers remained absent. However, the government was making every effort to provide maximum facilities to schools, he added.

Promotion of education would only be possible if private sector, NGOs, donor agencies and philanthropists helped in providing basic facilities to the government-run schools,

Devolution of power at union council level and provision of basic necessities to rural areas was needed most urgently, he said.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Privatisation divide
Updated 14 May, 2024

Privatisation divide

How this disagreement within the government will sit with the IMF is anybody’s guess.
AJK protests
14 May, 2024

AJK protests

SINCE last week, Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been roiled by protests, fuelled principally by a disconnect between...
Guns and guards
14 May, 2024

Guns and guards

THERE are some flawed aspects to our society that we must start to fix at the grassroots level. One of these is the...
Spending restrictions
Updated 13 May, 2024

Spending restrictions

The country's "recovery" in recent months remains fragile and any shock at this point can mean a relapse.
Climate authority
13 May, 2024

Climate authority

WITH the authorities dragging their feet for seven years on the establishment of a Climate Change Authority and...
Vending organs
13 May, 2024

Vending organs

IN these cash-strapped times, black marketers in the organ trade are returning to rake it in by harvesting the ...