State-run state of affairs: Science laboratories sans equipment and teachers

Govt school students, lecturers complain subjects taught only at surface level.

PESHAWAR:

The study of science might very well be a life-long endeavour riddled with accidents for students at government schools in Peshawar. With a shortage of teachers and lab equipment, students are more likely to learn the basic principles of combustion (and other theories) in the kitchen.

Government High School Salwan Saddar was upgraded from middle to high school in 2008. Even after seven years, students do not know what the science laboratory in their school looks like. Although they are marked for the practical section of their examination, there remains a gap in their knowledge when it comes to application of theories.

Equip first, enrol later

A grade 10 student of the school, Ahmed Ali, says their science teachers only use the one syllabus book to teach them and have never used a single apparatus to demonstrate the practical element of the topic being taught. He complains the government does not pay attention to these essential details but keeps enrolling students in the primary section.

“No one focuses on the quality of education in government schools,” he says. Teachers and students just come to the school for the sake of attending classes where hardly anything is taught, adds Ali. “Only children from low-income backgrounds opt for government schools, they are very talented but the lack of quality keeps them behind.”

A teacher from the school who does not want to be named says there are science teachers in the school but due to a lack of equipment, the laboratory has remained locked for years. He adds the school administration has demanded equipment but the education department has not yet considered the requests.

One way or another

Other schools face the same problem. Fazal Qadoos, a teacher at Government Civil Quarter High School, says there are three teachers for science at his school but there is no equipment to take students a step further in the subject.

However, for some schools the issue is the other way round. In Ghari Khudadad, a school has equipped laboratories but there are no science teachers. The students complained there were no permanent teachers and science was taught by those versed in other subjects.

Social activist Roman Khan who works in Peshawar and deals with the use of equipment in government schools across the district tells The Express Tribune there are many schools where students are not allowed to use laboratories. One reason why students are kept away from practical classes is that there are no proper teachers to guide them.

Then, he says, there are some private schools that use equipment that belongs to government schools but no one takes action against this injustice.

When contacted, Peshawar DEO Sharif Gul refuted all accusations, saying they have not been reported to him. He admitted to the lack of equipment in some schools but said the government provides funds to schools for the purchase of these necessary items.

However, he said, he will take action against the use of government equipment by private schools and will take to task those who are involved in such wrongdoings.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2015.