MILLIONS of students are enrolled in the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK), and hundreds of them visit the office daily for all kinds of official purposes from all parts of Karachi. It is frustrating when they find the BIEK office non-functional due to power outages.

All government offices dealing with the public must have power backup systems to ensure that people do not face hurdles in their documentation process. If the public healthcare sector can have a backup, which it should, there is no reason for the education sector not to follow suit.

Loadshedding in residential areas is a common phenomenon. People suffer because routine life depends on routine electricity supply. Students are among the worst sufferers as they are unable to study as per their plans. Our youth is resilient, but there is no point making them hopeless. Brain drain is already an active phenomenon in society. The country is losing its assets.

The government must pay heed to the allocation of resources as it will help people sustain their belief in the country and its systems. The power crisis is challenging for the people because they pay huge charges for a commodity that is not even supplied to them. Students can be more productive when the environment is supportive. How can we expect them to perform well if they are unable to study and, instead, waste time in getting their documentation done only after repeated visits to government offices?

Arisha Irshad Ali
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2024