MULTAN, Oct 14: The Municipal Missali School, once known for its excellent results in Multan, is no more than a picture of neglect.

Established in 1876 as a primary school, it began witnessing an era of success as the number of students took leap. For achieving higher standards in education and showing consistency in results, the institution was given the name of MC Missali School in the middle of the 20th century.

However, the school gradually fell on evil days due to the negligence of the authorities concerned.

The building of the school is in dilapidated condition. At present, only three of the 15 rooms are good enough to house students. The roofs of four rooms have caved in while at least three have been declared as dangerous.

Worn-out furniture and other overused items can be seen dumped in three other rooms without shelter. Toilets are only shapeless structures while the only playground in the school is fast becoming a jungle.

Worst to see is the fact that only four teachers are at present associated with the school.

Scores of parents had visited the school from time to time to get their wards admitted but only to be disgusted at the overall mess. Consequently, the number of students declined from more than 1,200 to around 110 during the last decade.

A number of factors for this sorry state of affairs can be cited in this regard. The building of the school has not been repaired since 1988. In the 90s, it was proposed that the school building should be converted into a shopping plaza and the first floor of which would be allotted to the school.

To translate this idea into reality, the then mayor Tariq Rasheed got the classes of the school shifted to the MMC Lahori Gate School. However, the classes were shifted back as the plan met no headway.

Traders allegedly never tried to see school making gains since most of them wanted a shopping centre on the site adjacent to the Husain Agahi bazaar for their vested interests.

The MMC authorities remained equally inconsiderate to the needs of the students and they never bothered to get the crowded rooms vacated in the days of shifting. The residents of the locality, on the other hand, want the institution in its days of achievements. They have urged the district government to spare no pains in reshaping the school.