The Rawalpindi education department on Wednesday found itself in double trouble, when boys belonging to Government Model High School (GMHS), Saddar refused to accept the decision to vacate their school building. They are being asked to do so to accommodate girls who themselves have been studying under the open sky for the past two months.
The provincial government’s school-merger policy is being cited as the culprit.
A large number of students led a protest against the decision to merge their school with Danies Boys Higher Secondary School. After the merger, girls of Pak Islamia Girls Elementary School will take over GMHS building.
The issue arose when the education department shifted nearly 300 girls of Pak Islamia School to another high school some five kilometres away.
Their school building in Ahata Fazal Elahi was vacated in August, when the school was merged with one in Ratta Amral, under the provincial education department’s policy to merge schools with shortage of students or staff, and those set up in rented buildings.
The move was not acceptable for many parents, who said young girls could not go to a school that far away. Nearly 400 girls and 12 staff members were displaced as a result, while around 100 stopped attending classes or switched to other schools.
To continue education, the girls had been studying in a narrow street near the railway station and due to shortage of space, they attended classes on alternate days, with half on one day and the other half on the next.
“We asked the education department to shift the school to a nearby under construction girls’ degree college or to a high school as the young girls cannot travel long distances,” said Tahir Butt, an area resident and a concerned father.
He said they approached the area MNA Shakeel Awan and MPA Sheryar Riaz for a solution. It was decided to shift the girls to the high school and accommodate the boys studying there in Danies Higher Secondary School instead.
However, on Wednesday the high school boys refused to respect the decision, saying that their school had been existing for past 50 years and students from adjoining areas are also studying there.
A protesting student said it would be difficult for the students to go to Danies school, as it is far away and hundreds of students are already studying there.
Butt said it would have been a wise decision to move the girls to the under-construction degree college instead.
The EDO Qazi Zahoorul Haq was not available for a comment. However, well-informed sources said he is expected to meet Awan on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2012.
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