KARACHI, Oct 8: Enrolment in one of the most elegantly constructed and furnished government school — Government Public School (West), located within the vicinity of Gutter Baghicha — is as low as 150 as against its accommodation capacity of 550.

Inaugurated in 1998 by the then chief minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, the school charges only Rs500 as monthly tuition fee since it was made operational in October 1999.

It transpired during a visit to the school by a group of newsmen that the main reason of the disappointing strength of students is heaps of garbage that have virtually blocked every access to the building. Teachers and students have to either scale the garbage and debris rocks or jump into deep craters to reach the gates of the school building. Even more troublesome for them is the vast open ground (falling between the main thoroughfare/bust stop and the school) littered with every sort of debris, industrial waste, mud, filthy water, chemicals and construction waste all dumped elsewhere by the hydrant operators, industrialists, small traders and many others having their workplace around the school building.

Though the teaching and non-teaching staff have not been paid their salaries for several months as usual, they are paying full attention to the students who are regularly attending their classes. Overall result of the students is also appreciable with an average of 80 per cent or more.

According to Mr Nisar Baloch, a social worker associated with the NGOs’ Alliance and who accompanied the newsmen during the visit, the school has a total staff of 28, 12 of them teachers. He said that the school’s monthly salary bill, amounting to about Rs200,000, had not been approved by the EDO for the third consecutive month, September, for some unknown reason. He said that the staff was facing immense hardship in continuing their service with the same devotion.

The CDGK took over the school’s affairs soon after the enforcement of devolution plan. Earlier, it was run by an autonomous board of directors with deputy commissioner being the chairman. The board has not convened its meeting till date under the new chairman, the city Nazim.

The Vice-Principal of the School, Roshan Raza, told the newsmen that much of the filthy water, mud and pollutants around the school had been created by water tankers moving within the Gutter Baghicha vicinity every two minutes and using the access that is also meant for the school.

The heaps of garbage and rocks of debris have also destroyed the entire environment posing a serious threat to the health of the teachers, students and visitors. No private transport operators is prepared to offer van service to the students owing to the dilapidated condition of the access road.