PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has virtually shelved the much-trumpeted scheme of establishing prefabricated container schools for several reasons, according to officials.

The establishment of prefabricated container schools or smart schools was part of the Annual Development Programme 2016-17 with estimated cost of Rs1billion.

As pilot project, it was decided to establish 200 smart schools in different parts of the province with all basic facilities. The idea of prefabricated schools was floated to get rid of the bricks and mortar building of the schools, sources said.

However, they said that elementary and secondary education department, planning and development department and communication and works department couldn’t agree on the structure of the smart schools during the previous eight months.

Minister says technical feasibility of project has not been approved so far

Sources said that the idea of setting up smart schools was the brainchild of the high-ups of planning and development department and it was incorporated in the ADP without taking education and communication and works departments on board.

They said that on the request of provincial government, the World Bank established a prefabricated primary school as model in Lakki Marwat a few months ago. The model school has all facilities including air-conditioners in classrooms, furniture, uninterrupted electricity through solar panels, furniture and of multimedia in each classroom etc.

Sources said that it was established to see whether the idea of container schools was feasible or not. They said that a team of experts, including members of education, planning and development and communication and works departments, visited the model school and held several meetings but failed to make a decision about its structure.

Sources said that education department lost interest in the scheme owing to the issue of security and maintenance of the equipment installed in the smart school. They said that currently there was no company in the country that had expertise in establishing prefabricated schools. “Around 100 students can be accommodated in the classroom made of break and mortar while the classroom in smart school has capacity of only 25 students,” they added.

As per estimates of planning and development department, the establishment cost of a six-classroom smart school is Rs120 million while currently communication and works department constructs a school of breaks and mortar by spending Rs150 million.

Sources said that communication and works department took more than two years to construct a school despite availability of funds while the smart school would take less than three months to complete.

“The main issue in the execution of the prefabricated school scheme is lack of ownership,” an official in education department said. He said that no departments including education, communication and works and planning and development took responsibility to establish the prefabricated schools.

“Let planning and development department execute the scheme as establishment of prefabricated schools is brainchild of this department,” said the official.

About any precedence of smart schools in the country, sources said that so far no province tried that model rather it had been functioning in some countries of Africa where NGOs constructed it.

Minister for Education Mohammad Atif Khan, when contacted, said that technical feasibility of the pre-fabricated structure was not approved so far.

He said that technical feasibility of the container school was rejected for two main reasons. “It cannot accommodate more than 25 students in a class. Secondly, the height of the sealing is very low,” he added.

The minister said that the allocated amount of Rs1 billion for establishment of prefabricated schools would be utilised to provide facilities to other schools and construct new schools. “Whenever technical feasibility of the prefabricated structure is approved, the schools will be built accordingly,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017