‘Govt schools barely have enough to pay bills’

Headmasters’ collective demands budget increase

RAWALPINDI:

A collective of principals and headmasters of government schools in the province has called for an immediate increase in the administrative funds allocated to them in the wake of the significant increase in the price of fuel, utilities and runaway inflation.

The Headmasters Association Punjab referred to the existing funds granted to schools for annual expenses as ‘cumin seed in the mount of a camel’ while demanding an increase of Rs500,000 per month in the funds of each school.

The association’s president, Malik Abdul Maalik, and secretary general, Dr Iftikhar Cheema, told media that most governments school were already in debt to the tune of half a million rupees.

He said most schools were struggling to keep up with expenses, with teachers and staff contributing in some instances to keep the education system functional. “Our electricity bills alone are more than Rs100,000,” he said.

The educators said that schools had a budget between Rs300,000 to Rs500,000 as its non-salary budget. They pointed out that the disbursements vary and inconsistent with certain schools not paid for months on end.

He added that the budget was not enough to cover expenses for repairs. Most of the funds were being used to pay for the telephone, electricity, and water bills.

The funds were already disbursed on a quarterly basis by when most schools have multiple issues piled up varying from construction, maintenance, cleaning, and security.

Many schools have not paid its peripheral staff, including guards and watchmen, he said. Maalik said that that facility to provide uniforms free-of-charge to underprivileged children was no longer available.

He said it was likely that schools would start defaulting on their bills, resulting in ‘telephone, electricity, gas, and water connections getting cut off’.

Due to non-payment of salaries, he continued, security personnel and sanitary staff were on the verge of quitting their duties at schools.

Maalik said that schools have not been provided funds for the last two months resulting in schools either defaulting on debt or the administrator using personal resources to keep it afloat.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2023.