HYDERABAD, Nov 8: District education monitors who inspected a government school here on Tuesday found chickens and breeding cages, instead of children and teachers. The school was being used as a poultry farm and a part of it as a ‘rest-house’ for 14 years.

Besides chickens, the monitors found a VCR, a television set, 14 video-cassettes and playing cards.

A spokesman for the district nazim secretariat said in a statement that the school building in Naukhor village of Tando Qaisar had been occupied by an influential person of the area in 1992. He had converted classrooms into a ‘guest-house’ and set up the poultry farm in the open area.

Records of the education department showed the school had three classrooms. Twenty-nine students were supposed to be on its roll and there were two teachers for them.

Police seized all the items found in the ‘school’ and the monitoring team submitted its report to the district nazim for necessary action.

A large number of villagers, who witnessed the raid, demanded that the school be reopened and severe action be taken against the occupier.

The team, headed by union council nazim Yousuf Mukhtiar, comprised Aslam Shaikh, Ms Rana Siddiqui, DO (education) Gul Sher Nabi, ADO Saeed Noorani and TPO Mukhtar Solangi.