Social service: In NA-126, lawmakers take on improving schools

Teachers, parents and students share concerns with elected representatives

LAHORE: Disappointed with the government’s apathetic attitude towards education, lawmakers in Lahore’s NA-126 constituency have decided to finance public schools on their own.

This was disclosed by MPA Dr Murad Rass during a convention on Saturday organised by two NGOs where parents, teachers and lawmakers from the constituency had convened to discuss problems at public schools.

At the convention, teachers, parents and students shared their concerns with the elected representatives. Rass shared the conditions at many schools in the area that he had visited. He said he had approached Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood and Lahore’s education officer several times but they did not bother to listen to him.

This is why, he said, the lawmakers have taken the matter in their own hands.

Also answering the questions at the convention was MNA Shafqat Mahmood. He said NA-126 was a different constituency as all the public representatives were from the opposition party. “We need to realise that we can give our children a better future, both socially and career-wise through education,” he added.

Mahmood said it was unfortunate the government had been ignoring the education sector, especially in constituencies where the opposition members were elected as representatives. He maintained that they had not received a single paisa for the welfare of the constituency.

A Model Town union councillor said councils at the union and tehsil levels could play an instrumental role in the resolution of issues at schools but as of now, no decision-making authority rested with the local councils.

To this, Mahmood said he hoped the local government would be given powers and would be made effective, so that they could play a role at the union council and tehsil levels.

Bearing the brunt

The issues raised by the audience included lack of basic facilities, insufficient monetary incentives for teachers and low-quality education at government schools.

Saniya, a teacher at University of Punjab, said there was a lack of focus on confidence-building, personality development and inculcation of ethics by teachers at government schools.

However, several parents and teachers said the majority of government schools in Model Town, which falls in NA-126, were functioning well despite several issues being pointed out.

However, a common complaint was that school management committees (SMC) were not effective due to lack of funds by the government. SMCs have been made to improve the state of government-run schools in the province.

More meetings

The next convention is set to be held in Multan, in the constituency of PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The convention is part of a series of 14 SMCs, parent-teacher councils and parent-teacher school management committees’ conventions across Pakistan.

The declared aim of the series of event is to facilitate dialogues between parents, members of SMCs and politicians and to engage parents, especially from the disadvantaged segments of the society, to take interest in children’s schooling.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2016.