Three children were killed when the wall of a primary school building fell on them in village Bhooro Sand, near Nagarparkar town in Sindh, on Friday.

The victims, identified as six-year-old Ambreen, five-year-old Muqeema and her brother, Ali Raza, were playing near the wall when it fell on them.

The victims’ relatives and villagers, who retrieved the bodies from the debris, told local journalists that the building of the government primary school was in a very dangerous condition and they had time and again requested the relevant authorities to demolish it, but to no avail.

They added that their children did not attend the school and were enrolled in a local seminary.

In November last year, plaster on the roof and walls of a classroom in a public school in Mirpurkhas had fallen off, while the school was in session. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

Educationists and activists have on many occasions raised the issue of the dilapidating infrastructure of public schools in the province, but the situation has largely remained unchanged for the past several years.

Pakistan has 22.8 million out-of-school children, of which 28 per cent are in Sindh. The province also has the second lowest gross enrolment ratio and net enrolment rates at all education levels in the country.