Punjab

Children forced to sit on ground in biting cold

School building hit by earthquake 17 years ago yet to be rehabilitated

Zulfiqar Ali February 08, 2022

Students at Government Masjid Primary School Balgaran have no choice but to sit on the ground to study in the freezing cold. PHOTO: EXPRESS

BALAKOT:

Over 60 students of a primary school in Balgaran Kanshiyan village still sit in the cold to study as the school building’s roof collapsed 17 years ago. In 2005, several other buildings were damaged in a catastrophic earthquake.

The situation raised questions about the government, the local Members of Provincial Assemblies (MPAs) and the Members of National Assembly (MNAs') interest in resolving public issues and their performance.

The roof of the Government Mosque Primary School is one such case in point.

Currently, there is only one temporary room in the school. Teaching and learning are not only difficult but inching towards being impossible. The children who study in the school are forced to attend lectures under the open sky, even during the extremely cold months.

The severe cold also causes many students to suffer from various diseases.

The parents of the children told The Express Tribune that although the provincial government claims that it spends billions of rupees annually on education, the performance of the government could be gauged from the condition of the school. “The dilapidated condition of the school gives an insight into the difficulties children face in obtaining an education,” they added.

Winters are freezing cold and snow and rain adversely affect children's education, they said. The parents said that 17 years had passed since the earthquake, but the extent of recovery after the earthquake could be gauged from the dilapidated condition of the school.

The Supreme Court, in its recent decision, has ordered the provincial government to construct earthquake-affected schools within a stipulated time period of six months.

But, it still remains to be seen when this judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan is implemented in its trues spirit to save the children from taking classes in the biting and frosty cold of winter.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2022.