RAWALPINDI: The District Education Department has sought Rs400 million from the Punjab government for the reconstruction of 185 schools in the fiscal year 2016-17, the buildings of which were declared dangerous.

Executive District Officer Education Qazi Zahoorul Haq told Dawn that after receiving directives from the provincial government, the department had submitted a report about dilapidated and dangerous school buildings in the district last year.

“During the survey, 383 buildings were declared dangerous and the department sought financial help for the reconstruction of the buildings so the lives of children and teachers are not put at risk,” he said.

The government had provided Rs320 million for the reconstruction of 198 buildings then and had promised to give more in the next fiscal year, he said.

“The concerned schools sent in their survey reports to the provincial government through the project management unit for the reconstruction of the buildings,” Mr Zahoorul Haq added.

A senior official at the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) told Dawn that though many classrooms in the schools in the city areas do not have roofs, the government is only interested in improving schools in the villages in order to please donors. The schools in which classes do not have roofs include Islamia High School and Christian High School Raja Bazaar.

“After the survey, 383 buildings were found to be dangerous, but the government asked for the number to be reduced after which the local administration reduced the number of buildings declared dangerous to 198. In the meantime, the condition of many schools has deteriorated,” he said.

The roofs of 30 educational institutions had collapsed, he said, and that the children in the schools had been moved to other, comparatively safer class rooms.

“The provincial government is not interested in building pressure on the government to release funds for such buildings and neither are the ruling party’s representatives,” he said.

It is unusual for the government to seek details before the budget is announced and for a department to send in their demands, said Punjab Teacher’s Association district president Chaudhry Saghir Alam. He added that the government is not interested in solving the problems of the education sector.

“Summer vacations is the ideal time to reconstruct and improve schools building so that students are not disturbed,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2016