LAHORE: Participants in a roundtable conference here on Thursday were unanimous that the state had failed to ensure safe environment on educational campuses all over Punjab.

Speaking on the issue of “The state of education in Punjab” at the event organised by Alif Ailaan at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, HRCP Director Husain Naqi said the state had failed to provide security enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

He said installing barbed wires, erecting boundary walls and giving army training to employees of civilian departments would not help avoid terrorism. “The state should build the capacity of the security forces to fight efficiently against the terrorists rather than arming the teachers,” he said.

“If the state wants to ensure the security of citizens,” he stressed, “it should revise the syllabus and promote tolerance among the youth.” He said the youth should be educated about the ways and means to confront intolerant mindset.

Alif Ailaan coordinator Umair in his presentation on the infrastructure of schools in Punjab said 18pc of school buildings remained in an unsatisfactory condition and resources were not efficiently spent to improve the infrastructure. He said the government schools were without boundary walls, basic facility of toilets, drinking water and one-third buildings without electricity.

The South Asia Partnership director said the government should tell the nation what steps they were taking to deal with extremism. He said the state had refused to guard the citizens and ordered departments to take measures on their own to protect themselves.

PML-N MPA Rana Arshad said the government had taken several measures to provide security and improve infrastructure of the schools.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2015

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