Schools face disconnection of utility services over unpaid dues

Principals seek ‘donations’ from teachers to pay bills as ministry fails to release funds

RAWALPINDI:

A large number of schools in the Rawalpindi district are at risk of having their electricity, gas, and landline telephone connections disconnected over non-payment of utility bills owing to the worst ongoing financial crisis in the Ministry of Education.

Due to the unpaid bills, the utility service departments sent out final notices for the disconnection of the telephone, gas, and electricity connections in the ongoing month of March.

Further, the caretaker government has mandated an immediate 40% reduction in the monthly operating costs for all 50,000 primary, middle, and higher secondary schools throughout Punjab, including the Rawalpindi district. However, despite the reduction, the payment of the expenditure has also been halted.

Every three months, the education ministry provides funds in the form of a quarterly non-salary budget (NSB) to cover the monthly expenditure of schools.

From the start of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2022, three quarters have almost ended but the funds for only one quarter have been issued and that too with a 40% reduction.

Sources said the heads of several schools paid the utility bills of their respective schools by collecting donations from the teachers last month but the funds were not released.

Now even the teachers have refused to lend the money for payment of utility bills due to which the power connections of the government schools will start getting disconnected after March 15.

On the other hand, the issue of examination papers from grades I to VIII in government schools has also gotten worse due to the ongoing financial crisis.

When contacted, the Punjab Teachers Union's Central Secretary General, Rana Liaquat, stated that one million students from grades I to VIII would need photocopies of the question papers, which will cost Rs1.5 billion. However, the ministry has denied our request for this amount.

He added that permission was sought to write question papers on the chalkboards rather than using question papers during the examination. He said although it will not incur any costs. However, the permission has not been granted yet.

Basharat Raja, President of the Educators Association, and Muhammad Shafiq Bhalwalia, President of SES Teachers, agreed that the education department's issues should be resolved. “It's terrible to slash the NSB fund by 40%. The full fund amount for the three quarters should be paid immediately,” they demanded.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2023.