LAHORE, Oct 11: Buildings of some 4,891 public schools in the Punjab have been declared dangerous. Sources in the education department told Dawn on Tuesday primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in 34 districts had run-down buildings.

They said Rahim Yar Khan, Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Jhang, Sialkot and Mianwali were on top of the list with 282, 275, 244, 242, 236, 209 and 203 schools, respectively. They said the recent earthquake had underlined the need for immediate measures to address the problem.

It is learnt that under the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme, these schools will be reconstructed after dismantling structures in two years.

The sources said some 117 schools whose buildings had been declared as dangerous were in Attock, 170 in Bahawalnagar, 174 in Bahawalpur, 154 in Bhakkar, 53 in Chakwal, 201 in D G Khan, 170 in Gujranwala, 123 in Gujrat, 65 in Hafizabad, 74 in Jhelum, 125 in Kasur, 80 in Khanewal, 89 in Khushab, 107 in Lahore, 146 in Layyah, 58 in Lodhran, 73 in Mandi Bahauddin, 87 in Multan, 157 in Narowal, 180 in Okara, 42 in Pakpattan, 129 in Rajanpur, 47 in Sahiwal, 183 in Sargodha, 92 in Toba Tek Singh, 52 in Vehari and 252 in Muzaffargarh.

Besides this, some 9,491 schools in the province required complete and 29,208 partial repairs, they said.

In the dilapidated buildings category, they said Rahim Yar Khan had the maximum number of 581 schools which required complete renovation.

They said Sialkot, Jhang, Shiekhupura, D G Khan, Bahawalnagar, Attock, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar, Chakwal, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Jehlum, Kasur, Khanewal, Khushab, Lahore, Layyah, Lodhran, Mandi Bahauddin, Multan, Narowal, Okara, Pakpattan, Rajanpur, 47 Sahiwal, 183 Sargodha, Toba Tek Singh and Vehari and Muzaffargarh had 503, 498, 480, 471, 407, 195, 364, 214, 162,561, 319, 225, 126, 127, 245, 327,126, 207, 103, 160, 74, 105, 261, 318, 210,359, 116, 257, 342,88, 333, 127, 125 and 375 schools, respectively, requiring complete repairs.

Officials said the Punjab government had constructed over 3,000 school buildings whose dilapidated structures were identified by district governments till 2003.

They said the renovation of the dilapidated school buildings would be completed by 2006. They said the district governments had been updating data in this regard and in May 2005 the updated figure was 4,891.

Under the PESRP, they said data about 63,674 schools in the province was computed along with enrolment and staffing status. The district governments had prepared a complete inventory of the schools’ missing facilities reflected in their district profiles.