Thanks to their relentless curiosity and dreadful naivety, school-going children are known to attract misfortune. While some are injured after being pushed off a ten-foot-high slide, others willingly embrace sickness after hugging a sneezing friend. For the government, however, this fundamental fact about childhood fails to register as public schools continue to operate without first-aid kits.
As the government continues with its efforts of privatizing public schools, the quality of teaching and the provision of basic facilities including water, electricity, furniture, books, technology and first aid kits become increasingly disappointing. Across schools in Punjab, first aid boxes are found to be non-existent, with many schools collecting funds from children in order to provide basic medical facilities.
Saulat Mirza, a father, revealed that his children were studying at a government school. “Every month, the teachers ask my children to bring money to cover various expenses including medical needs. In case a child is injured or falls sick, the school has no first aid resources available and medical help is sought privately. The government has a budget of billions of rupees, but it refuses to spend any money on the provision of basic medical supplies to schools,” lambasted Mirza.
Similarly, Sheikh Waqar, another parent, felt that the unavailability of medical aid in schools was unfortunately strange. “The government should spend money on medical aid and nutrition in every school, but no funds are given in this regard. Whenever a child is injured or ill, the medicine has to be arranged privately,” said Waqar.
Like Mirza and Waqar, for many parents sending their children to a public school, the absence of first aid resources is a paramount source of worry since children are prone to suffering minor injuries, cuts, fever or allergies during the day. Although there are budgetary allocations made by the government, children and teachers continue to suffer due to a lack of implementation at the practical level.
Central President of English Teachers Union Azwar Bhatti revealed that in the past, emergency kits were kept in all schools to give first aid to children. “After 2010, however, the supply of proper emergency kits to schools was stopped. Later in 2019, the provision of basic pain relief medications and injury balms was also halted. At present around 10 million children are studying across different classes in Punjab, however, the funds allocated for medical aid in schools are negligible,” said Bhatti.
According to the World Health Organization, first aid boxes at schools should have the following items; anti-septic solution, cotton, leather-free pads, bandages of different sizes, medical tape, scissors, tweezers, safety pins, burns cream, ice-keeping facility, medicines for children and adults, pain-relief sprays, thermometers, face masks and hand sanitizers.
Just recently, ahead of the heatwave in Punjab, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz had instructed authorities to ensure the provision of first aid medical boxes in government schools hence confirming that this fundamental medical resource was not available previously. Commenting on the recent development, Bhatti opined that despite the official orders, the Education Department had given little or no importance to the availability of the first aid kits.
“All public schools are arranging medical supplies independently on an ad hoc basis. No funds have been allocated in this regard in the non-development budget given to schools. There were 66,770 public schools in 2020, which have decreased to just 42,805 schools in 2025. It is also known that there is a shortage of 100,000 teachers, which is a reflection of how much importance the government gives to education. In such a scenario, the provision of medical facilities does not even register as an important issue,” explained Bhatti.
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