After govt’s refusal: Colleges, schools seek donations

Dearth of ‘promised’ funds at Rawalpindi’s institutes.

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab government is forcing heads of schools and colleges in the province to complete all security arrangements as soon as possible but has not provided them the extra funds they need for the task. This has forced some college principals to ‘arrange’ funds from elsewhere, including asking staffers to pay the price of security.

The heads of educational institutes are dismayed over the situation as there is a serious dearth of funds and they are left with no option but to take all the measures on a self-help basis.



Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) Rawalpindi Division President Liaqat Hussain told The Express Tribune that all colleges were instructed to adopt basic SOPs including constructing five feet boundary walls, placing two feet of barbed wire and hiring guards at any cost without issuing any funds.

 

The colleges do not have enough funds to do all these arrangements on their own, he remarked.

“In the first week after the December16 attack, we were told by the education department that the government will allocate a huge amount for the purpose but now they are asking us to arrange everything from the available funds,” he said.

PPLA General Secretary Tanveer Ahmad Shah said though the government has provided some funds to certain colleges, the major burden is on the colleges themselves. He added that the colleges will have to install CCTV cameras and hire security guards, and owing to a dearth of funds they are requesting ‘well-off’ people and staff members to donate for the cause.



A Rawalpindi college principal, who requested not to be named, told The Express Tribune that they have been instructed by the provincial education department to arrange two security guards for at least two months for each college as the upcoming months are more sensitive.

“We are ready to take all security measures provided we are given funds”, he said.

“The government will have to carry out proper fund allocation in order to actually address the issue,” he added.

How you can expect the implementation of SOPs when even the basic infrastructure is non-existent, he questioned.

The government will have to prioritise the education sector in order to plug all loopholes instead of taking decisions in haste, he remarked.

While talking to The Express Tribune, a female teacher of a government school in Rawalpindi on the condition of anonymity revealed that the headmistress of her school requested teachers to give money from their pockets and is also urging some people in the area to donate for the purpose. She revealed that her husband has now promised to convince an influential person of Rawalpindi for the donation so they can arrange razor wire and other measures for the security of her school.

However, Rawalpindi Division Director Colleges Professor Humayun Iqbal denied the above mentioned claim and said the provincial building department is supervising all security-related matters in colleges. He added that the Punjab government is allocating funds for all three basic necessities including boundary walls, razor wires and concrete barriers. As far as installation of CCTV cameras is concerned, most of the colleges have already installed them and the rest will be provided funds for all the proposed SOPs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2015.