Moalims

PINDI GHEB:
Education has been the most neglected sector on the agenda of the governments, both provincial and federal. Misplaced priorities and the abysmal quality of education in public schools have created a serious crisis. Successive governments have miserably failed to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGS) on education.

The Punjab government, which boasts of its so-called pro-development policies, instead of improving the sorry state of affairs has come up with yet another lopsided solution — hand over schools to a private entity to achieve the ‘desired results’.

In the first phase over 140 schools have been handed over to Punjab Education Foundation, a private entity, and in the second phase, the axe will fall on colleges to ‘fix’ the moribund education system.

The provincial government has not taken any concrete steps to provide the requisite facilities including the teaching staff to the institutes, which badly need them.

The Government Degree College for Boys at Pindi Gheb tehsil of the impoverished Attock District is one such example which has fallen victim to the state apathy.

Spread over 74-canal, the college has been facing the shortage of teaching staff for the last over two decades.

The only public sector college for boys in the tehsil, the college has only eight regular teachers of the 27 sanction posts, whereas 19 posts have been lying vacant since 1989. Moreover, four positions of clerics out of five sanctioned posts, have also been lying vacant.

Constructed in 1974 as intermediate college, it has around 200 enrolled students including 40 in degree classes. It was upgraded to the degree college in 1982. Its annual budget is Rs40 million which, according to an official, was not sufficient meet it’s expenditures.

The college has no lab facility and the science students have to travel to either Attock or Talagang to attend practical classes.

The sewerage system is broken and has no clean drinking water facility.

The position of the librarian has also been lying vacant though the college has a library with over 10,000 books on various subjects.

Though the college has a large playground, sports activities never take place due to the absence of sports and a physical education teacher.

The majority of the students, who hail from far-flung areas, told Daily Express that they have to use public transport as the college has no buses.

The students said that the travel time spans over several hours and they get fatigued while travelling in public transport, which, according to them, moves at a snail’s pace given the paucity of travellers.

Sharing issues of the college with The Express, College Principal Muhammad Aslam said that staff shortage, lack of clean drinking water facility and broken sewerage system were some of the pressing issues the institute has been facing for long.

He said that the education department has never taken the college issues seriously.

The principal said that the students often ask him when their agonising problems including the staff shortage issue would come to an end.

“I have no satisfactory explanation for their questions and I am sure the relevant department must have,” the principal said.

He said that teachers from cities avoid being posted to the college for being in the remote area.

Locals said that education department officials only visit those colleges where they think they could be held accountable.

Punjab Minister for Mines and Minerals and an elected representative from PP-18 (Attock-IV) Chaudhry Sher Ali agreed that the college has been suffering the staffing crisis. He claimed that the education department has sought applications to make inductions in the college, educated people living urban areas were showing reluctance to perform duties in remote areas such as Pindi Gheb.

Translated by Shazia Mehboob

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2016.