Primary school: One teacher for five grades

Parents say lack of teachers, facilities affecting students’ performance.

NAROWAL: There is only one teacher for 88 students in five classes at the Government Primary Girls School in Dadiyan village, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A media team visited the school on Saturday and found that most of the students were in two classrooms, while the rest were made to sit in the lobby.

Parents said the students’ performance was being affected by the poor facilities. Riasat Ali, one of the parents, said that water accumulated in the school building whenever it rained. It wasn’t removed for days and made the place stink. He said the classrooms were in poor condition with broken windows and needed repair.

He said the drinking water tank was not cleaned for weeks and children had been falling ill from drinking water at school.

Munir Ahmed, another parent, said that most of the parents could not afford to send their children to a private school. He said several complaints had been made to the education officers, but the conditions remained unchanged.

The parents demanded that more teachers be hired for the school and its building be revamped.

Executive District Officer (Education) Muhammad Riaz said teachers were being appointed at district schools. He said 300 positions of primary school teachers were advertised this year, but applications on all seats were not received. The process, he said, was still ongoing.

He said action will also be taken about schools that needed repairs.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2013.