LARKANA, Nov 1: The district’s education works department has declared 115 buildings of schools and colleges as dangerous, dilapidated and in serious need of repairs, and warned that delay in their repairs can culminate in a mishaps and tragedies.
The district’s officer of education works told Dawn on Saturday that Rs265.750 million were urgently needed to undertake repair and maintenance work of the dangerous buildings.
He said that two weeks ago he had written to the district coordination officer and executive district officer of education and submitted to them a list of school buildings in dilapidated and dangerous condition.
He said that the funds of the Maintenance and Repair Program 2008-2009 would be not be enough to carry out large-scale repairs and proposed contacting Sindh Education Department for more funds.
The additional secretary of schools Abdul Rasheed Solangi in a letter dated Sept 17 to the DCO’s of the province passed on the instructions of the education minister, calling for starting repair work of schools immediately, he said.
He said that the provincial government had released Rs100 million each to all the district governments last year but despite a lapse of over one year the funds had remained unused.
He asked the district governments to take serious notice of the situation and handle the problem.
The education minister had directed that any lapse in this regard would result in registration of FIRs against the EDOs of education and the district officers of education works, he said.
DCO Abdul Aziz Uqaili wrote to the EDO of education, district officer of planning and district officer of education works under the instructions on Sept 30 asking them to address the issue on priority basis.
Responding to queries, the district officer of education of secondary and higher secondary said in a letter to the DCO on Oct 4 that he had identified 48 buildings, which required major repairs. Eighteen high schools (boys and girls) in Larkana, eight in Bakrani, seven in Dokri and 15 were located in Ratodero taluka.
The district officer pointed that buildings of five schools which were in dangerous state, were Government Boys High School Khanwah, Masoodero, Government Boys High School (Single Section) Ratodero, Government Girls High School (single Section) Ratodero and Government Boys High School Arija.
The minister began the correspondence on Oct 17 after he visited Manora, Keamari town in Karachi on Sept 15 where four children were killed after their school collapsed on Sept 11. Recently, two boys were injured in Mena village where a portion of the government primary school had caved in.