On the premises: Surprise visit reveals only one teacher, three students

There are only three teachers for60 pupils at school in Hangu

HANGU: Qari Tahir Fida, the naib chairman of Kahi village council, paid a surprise visit to Government Girls Community Primary School Rasheedabad in Hangu on Friday and discovered there were only three students on the premises.

“Although they were at the school, they were running around and not in class,” he told The Express Tribune.

There only three teachers for 60 students enrolled at the institute.

According to Fida, the teachers at the school have developed a system whereby only one teacher comes to school and marks the attendance of the other teachers in the register.

“The absence of an effective monitoring system allows the three teachers – Minhas Azizi, Ruqqaiya Sultan and Fatima Ilyas – to receive their salaries without actually going to work,” he said.

According to Fida, the school’s security guard also works at another primary school.

Volley of complaints

Parents have also repeatedly complained that only one of these teachers comes to school throughout the week while the other two receive their salaries even though they seldom come in to work.

“Overall, there are six posts for teachers,” a parent told The Express Tribune. “Three are lying vacant but no appointments have been made for a long time. As a result, the future of 60 girls [enrolled at the school] is at stake.

The school’s students have asked the government to investigate the matter and appoint more teachers to allow them to continue their studies.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th,  2016.