Exposed: For girls in Sudhan Gali, a school without walls

Devastated in 2005, the building has still not been rebuilt.

MUZAFFARABAD:

In Sudhan Gali, a health resort, some 90 kilometres from the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), girls have been studying under the open sky since the earthquake devastated the valley nine years ago.

The Government Girls High School is situated at 9,000 feet above sea level where more than 400 girls study in the shade of trees. The school was destroyed by the earthquake in 2005 and has so far not been rebuilt by the AJK government.

“The government had provided tents in 2005 but nine years later they are in no condition to protect us from the rain,” said Mahnoor Rafiq a 10th grade student, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

In both summer and winter it is difficult for the girls to study, particularly in the rain when they have no option except to close their books and rush to the nearest tree for shelter, said Khurshid Akbar whose daughter studies in the eighth grade.

“Sudhan Gali has more than 15,000 inhabitants and requires at least two educational institutions, but how unfortunate is it that the Azad Kashmir government has failed to construct this school, said Gul Zaman, a student’s father. “When our daughters have to study in the open, how can you ensure their safety? This is the main issue that haunts me and other parents as well.”

AJK Education Minister Mian Abdul Wahid said there were dozens of such schools in earthquake-hit areas and the government was trying its best to reconstruct the buildings on a priority basis. Despite the tall claims of the AJK government related to the promotion of education, the minister stated that the destroyed schools had not been reconstructed mainly due to a lack of funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2014.