PESHAWAR, Jan 9: The Child Welfare Home (CWH) for the orphan children is facing shortage of funds, facilities and trained teachers, an official told Dawn on Friday.

The CWH, established in 1981, is run by the NWFP social welfare department. The orphanage is a house to 47 children and needs funds to facilitate and educated the orphans.

The CWH was closed down in 1998-99 owing to the lack of funds. At that time nearly 100 children suffered who were rendered shelterless. The orphanage was again reopened in the year 2000.

"The CWH is faced with a host of problems. There is no warden to look after the children and the store keeper and senior clerks are also doing the job of teaching the boys," said Saeeda Nudrat, the official in charge of the CWH, who is also looking after the institute for the blind in the same building.

"I have to look after 15 blind children at the institute for blind and other children at the CWH, which is very difficult to manage," Ms Nudrat observed.

Due to shortage of trained teaching staff and lack of funds the orphaned children were imparted only education up to the primary level. "There is only one vocational teacher at the CWH," she added.

"We develop vocational skills of the boys so that when they leave the CWH, they would earn their living," said Attiya Rasool, a vocational teacher at the CWH.

"As the welfare home only provides shelter and education to boys so the orphan brothers and sisters get separated. There should be a section for the girls, but lack of funds is a hurdle," said Ms Nudrat.

She said that they could not hire a sweeper for the CWH due to paucity of funds, and the sweeper of the blind institute cleans the orphanage. The CWH is not properly furnished. The chairs in the classrooms are old and furniture needs repair. There is no medical facility and no psychiatrist for solving the psychological problems of these children as most of them are too young to accept the new surrounding.

"Most of the younger ones, newly admitted to the CWH have problems mixing up with the others and cry a lot even during the class," Saib Kamal, a teacher at the CWH said.

Children from all over the province come to get admission at the CWH as shelter, food and primary education is free. "But we need funds to run the welfare home and accommodate more children," said Ms Nudrat.

The federal government had given one portion of the special education complex to the provincial social welfare department's CWH for three years and the period of contract had ended in July, 2003.

"The building has to be vacated as the federal government wants to set up vocational centre in the building and the CWH have no other place to move into," said Ms Nudrat.