By Rafiullah Mandokhail,
ZHOB: Hundreds of children mostly from rural areas have no option but to bear extremely hot weather and face lack of basic facilities at their mud-stone school due to the apathy of the concerned authorities. The forgotten and neglected historic school building now presents a gloomy picture.
The state-run Especial Primary School is one of the best public sector schools established in a historic building – known as ‘Mandir School’ running without clean drinking water, proper electricity, furniture for students and even mat for the children to sit on. It is an example of the neglect faced by public sector educational institutions, despite tall claims made by the provincial government.
“The classes are overcrowded and it is quite difficult for the teachers to stay inside, due to no free space, cross ventilation and alternate system in absence of electricity. The students have no furniture even mat is unavailable, forcing them to sit on the floor to attend the classes,” said the school head Ghulam Jillani Tajik.
“Around 90-100 students sitting in each classroom make it impossible for the teachers to deliver lessons and check their homework particularly during load-shedding that usually continued for several hours. The students have to sit either on floor or on worn-out mats in the classrooms,” adding the students are compelled to drink hot water from pitchers, as the school lacks clean and cool water facility.
The decades-old school building is in a dilapidated condition, it is situated in a low-laying area having no drainage system. The teachers and students face immense hardships when it rained, he added.
It is worth mentioning, that the historic temple ‘Mandir’ built in the 18th century was once a place for the Hindu worshipers, but now the two-story building is being used as a primary school, where hundreds of children wearing blue uniform get education. During the partition in 1947 the temple was abandoned and later on converted into a school.