Dilapidated schools

Recently, the Supreme Court ordered a survey of the conditions of government schools in Sindh. To no one’s surprise, the over 100 government schools included in the survey were found to be in dismal conditions. The schools had no water, no furniture and no bathrooms. In addition, many of the 106 government schools had no electricity, resulting in poor temperature control in the classrooms, which in itself can be disruptive to students’ learning.

Apart from poor physical conditions, administrators of the schools informed the sessions judges carrying out the survey that education department officials required them to regularly pay bribes. If those bribes went unpaid, the officials threatened to transfer teachers elsewhere or sabotage their annual reports. The world over, teachers and administrators commit to students’ learning and academic success as their major goals; that is their primary concern. However, in Pakistan, with its already weak state of education, the officials of our government schools are forced to worry about obtaining basic necessities such as electricity and water. In addition, they have to deal with paying bribes to education department officials. Consequently, students in government schools suffer, creating greater disparity between government and private schools in Pakistan. The worn condition of government schools is not only a phenomenon observable in Sindh; government schools in all other provinces of the country suffer similar conditions.

Clearly, the education department needs to do its job better. However, prior to this, honest officials need to be appointed who will take oaths to faithfully fulfill their roles, all in the interest of Pakistan’s youth and its future. In order to get the attention of officials, perhaps the parents of the youth need to protest and call on the government to fix the conditions of its schools. Once the schools are equipped with basic necessities and replete with better resources for students, we will see our bright youth shine.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2013.