Tall ambitions: ‘All schools to be furnished by June 2015’

Furniture worth Rs2.5bn purchased, says education deputy director.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government aims to equip all government primary and secondary schools in the province with furniture by June 2015.

While talking to The Express Tribune, K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Deputy Director Abdul Shakoor Khan claimed, in its efforts to revamp state schools, the government has bought furniture worth Rs2.5 billion. This includes desks, chairs, tables and benches which the department plans to provide to all government primary, middle, and secondary schools in K-P.



Khan said for the first time a government has decided to address the issue on such a scale. “Within six months, not a school will look dilapidated in K-P,” he said.

State of affairs

Around 80% of  the 28,319 government schools across the province lack the most basic facilities, including furniture, sanitation and boundary walls. Children are forced to sit on bare floor or on jute mats in several schools.

While talking to The Express Tribune, an official of the education department said this factor is a major contributor towards the high dropout rate. “Attendance is extremely low at schools like these.” He added, “Children hardly take any interest in studies. They either bunk or leave school in only an hour or two.”

The All Primary Schoolteachers Association President Malik Khalid Khan appreciated the move and said the decision will bear fruit only when the resources are properly utilised.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2014.