BAHAWALNAGAR: The collapsed boundary wall, a stagnant water pool, no electricity, classes in the open due to insufficient classrooms and the crumbling building are some of the features the Government Boys Primary Centre School, Murli Garh, is associated with.

Established way back in 1960, the primary school has the enrolment of 270 students who are being taken care of by six teachers, including a lady teacher.

But, unfortunately, despite its appropriate enrollment, the school condition paints a gloomy picture of our education system, belying tall claims of education authorities regarding the provision of facilities to schools.

The school has only three classrooms with no electricity and the dearth of classrooms forces teachers to conduct classes under the open sky.

Off late, torrential rains multiplied the miseries of the school when its boundary wall collapsed. The stagnant water pool is another curse as it is serving as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that the school has been running without electricity since its establishment, but those at the helms have bothered least to get the electricity connection.

Muhammad Maqbool a student’s father, said the deplorable condition of the school should serve as an eye-opener to the Punjab government which claimed to have provided better facilities in the education sector.

Muhammad Sajid, the father of another student, said the school should be upgraded to secondary or at least elementary level as more than enough state land was available for the purpose.

Executive District Officer (Education) Zahoor Chohan said the paucity of funds was the main hurdle in providing electricity to the school.

He, however, said efforts were being made for the provision of electricity while the construction of boundary wall was underway and things would soon be improved.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2015

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