MITHI, Sept 6: Establishment of education department offices and guest houses of influential people in school buildings in Tharparkar district has created classroom shortage and badly affected academic activities.

Half of the building of Government Boys High School, North Colony, Mithi, has remained occupied since 1981 by education works department which is using the building for its office.

The school has 550 students and 29 teachers but due to the occupation, it is facing a shortage of classrooms and lack of space for science laboratory, computer laboratory, library, teachers’ room and store rooms.

Hundreds of aspiring students cannot get admission to the school every year owing to the shortage of classrooms.

Similarly, the establishment of the district education (secondary) office in the Government Girls High School, Mithi, for years is a source of hardships for the girl students.

Out of four rooms of Government Girls Primary School, North Colony, two have been occupied by the ADO (female) for her office.

The offices of the DEO (elementary) and the ADO (male) are also functioning in the rooms of the local Government Boys Primary School which has also created shortage of rooms for classes which are conducted in the verandahs.

Moreover, several officers of education works and education department have been using school building as their residences for the last couple of years but they are also receiving house rent allowance.

Apart from it, scores of buildings of girls and boys primary schools situated in various villages of the district have also been occupied by influential people for years, who are using them as their Otaqs guest houses.

As a result the students are being taught under trees or in makeshift places.

The social welfare activists have demanded of the Sindh education minister and chief secretary to take measures for getting the school buildings vacated to resume educational activities there.

Students denied scholarship money: Seven students of Higher Secondary School, Naokot, have not been paid Rs31,500 of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) scholarships sanctioned in their favour four months back.

This was said by Mohammad Suleman and other parents of the affected students while talking to this correspondent here on Saturday.

They said that according to a list issued by Tharparkar district Zakat officer on May 6, the MORA scholarship of Rs4,500 each was sanctioned for seven students of class-XI — Allah Nawaz, Bilal, Mohibullah, Amir Bukhsh, Khalid Hussain, Zahid and Khuda Bukhsh.

However, they said, the poor and deserving students had not been paid the scholarship amounts despite the lapse of four months.

They demanded of the government to order an investigation into the matter and initiate an action against those officials whose role had resulted in depriving the poor students of the scholarship amount.

When contacted, the school principal confirmed that the the scholarship was sanctioned in favour of the students but said neither the district education officials nor the Zakat officer informed the students or the school administration regarding the sanction of the scholarships.

A district Zakat official said that Rs31,500 of the MORA scholarship sanctioned in favour of seven students had been paid to other students and the former could expect to get the scholarship money out of second instalment of funds which were likely to be sanctioned in current month.