Forget laptops, Gujranwala school needs walls

A 50-year-old elementary public school in Gujranwala has 350 students, but only two rooms to accommodate them.

GUJRANWALA: A 50-year-old elementary public school in the Basiwala area of Gujranwala has 350 students, but only two rooms to accommodate them.

Not only are the school premises insufficient to accommodate the large number of students, its dilapidated walls and ceilings may also cave in at any moment, a safety hazard.

On sunny days, the children have to sit under the scorching sun to study. During inclement weather, they have to sit among pools of stagnant rainwater mixed with sewerage.

The teachers of the school are equally affected by the conditions but remain helpless.

On the one hand, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been busy distributing advanced laptops among students of the province, while on the other, students of this school within his jurisdiction wait for the government to provide them with basic facilities.

According to a recent report, the budget of the laptop initiative is Rs4 billion, and so far thousands of students across the province have received the laptops.