Sukheki – Hafizabad: School for Poor?
War of Education or Education for War
“Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education. Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice, we cannot have both”. Abraham Flexner
Generally perceived, Pakistan is the only “fortunate” country in the world where economic growth is measured through improvement in stock exchange instead of analyzing the degree of reduction in its poverty ratio, where improvement in life standards of the 2/3 poverty stricken population is measured by building wide roads and gigantic bridges instead of providing clean drinking water and other basic health facilities to the masses. Similarly, Pakistan must be the only “fortunate” country in the world, where there is no “War” for Education to get rid of the curse of ignorance, but one can easily find many “Wars” for the sake of terror, integrity, security, prestige, nationalism and global standing. What happened to our priorities?
Painfully speaking, when you travel little away from the vicinity of Islamabad and Lahore, you find the real sense of deprivation and the deplorable conditions of basic facilities in government schools of central Punjab region. The issues of teachers and the poor parents reflect their never ending struggle against bureaucracy and feudalism, respectively, and the ardent desires of their little children to have a quality education for a bright future.
This is an untold story of 17 government schools (girls & boys) of the union council, Sukheki (Hafizabad), and 6000 students enrolled therein, having around 200 teachers/staff members. Sukheki, one of the 43 union councils of District Hafizabad (constituency of the sitting State Minister of Health), ironically, is considered to be one of the developed areas, due to its vicinity to Lahore and Faisalabad through connections via M-1 and M-2 (Main Motorways). However, the situation there proved to be entirely paradoxical largely due to the missing/insufficient basic facilities in the government schools of boys and girls. Naturally, the situation in other rural areas of Central Punjab is expected to be no better.
It is responsibility of the state of Pakistan to provide the basic and necessary facilities for a healthy academic environment to improve the quality of education in government schools. However, it is seriously disappointing to observe that Government Primary School New Mandi Sukheki has not even electricity connection since its establishment in 1973. The Head Master, Zia Ullah says that for 170 students, there are 3 major class rooms for 6 sections. Resultantly, ¼ of students are shelter-less. The district govt. does not even provide funds for buying prizes to award the students, who secure top positions in annual examinations. He also conveyed his message to Punjab govt. that it should send enough qualified teachers before sending Teachers Guidelines in English language.
Situation on Govt. Rashid Minhas Higher Secondary (Boys) is even worse, where 650 students, 25 teachers and 5 staff members are using 4 washrooms. The Head Master, Hafiz Muhammad Anwar briefed that 9 available class rooms are being used by 14 sections. Resultantly, 5 sections of students are shelter-less. Due to such dominant issues, ratio of drop outs from the school increases every year. The non-availability of DWSS (Drinking Water Supply System) and WASH facilities, poor hygiene conditions and no alternate of electricity in severe load shedding of around 16-18 hours in drastic summer every year are other major problems in the school premises.
Mr Anwar asserts that poor condition of equipment/furniture in class rooms, no multimedia for senior classes of FA/FSc, and the missing sports facilities are the other real needs of his school, besides usually planned painting of walls and planting of grass every season to make the campus look green.
Principal, Govt. Rashid Minhas H.S School, Hafiz Muhammad Anwer appreciates govt. for security measures, but also regretfully states that his students/teachers need clean drinking water more than the CCTV cameras. Sukheki (Hafizabad).
Mr Anwar asserts that poor condition of equipment/furniture in class rooms, no multimedia for senior classes of FA/FSc, and the missing sports facilities are the other real needs of his school, besides usually planned painting of walls and planting of grass every season to make the campus look green.
Waiting for Godot to help them out
During the survey and interviews, it was found that clean drinking water and alternate arrangement of electricity in the 17 govt. schools were core focus of the principals and head teachers, followed by shortage of class rooms, washing places, toilets and sports facilities. Poor hygiene and drinking water issues may entail fatal diseases among the students. The data recorded at local govt. office shows that, in the last 5 years, 225 people died of hepatitis only in Sukheki Union Council, and many others are in row. The honorable State Minister of Health, Saira Afzal Tarar may not know this fact in a union council of her native district.
There are other basic missing facilities, which have been pointed out by heads of all government schools. For example, none of the 17 girls or boys govt. schools has got Kids Rooms and Multimedia facility to teach to nursery students, which cannot be taught through books only. None of the said schools has got clean water drinking facility and required number of toilets/washing places, as per the total number of teachers and students. None of govt. schools is facilitated with UPS/Solar System as an alternate source of electricity to cope with 16 to 18 hours load shedding in hot summer days of central Punjab. Functional libraries with literary books are more like dream places for both male and female students. Last but not the least, there is not even a single central and officially assigned play ground or public park for 6000 students (male & female) in vicinity of the govt. schools of Sukkheki, a union council, populated with approximately 70,000 people. One can surely contemplate how the youth in Sukheki can get rid of stress and extra energies, and build their healthy minds, without having sports facilities inside or outside of the schools premises. Resultantly, these young minds are easily prone to social curses of child labor, sexual abuse, drug addiction and criminal activities.
In addition to the above said, all heads of schools showed grave concern over non-seriousness of ruling elite, civil society, media, social welfare organizations and business class regarding their passive role in educational development of the govt. schools in Sukheki. Perhaps, there is a need to educate all of them about importance of schools, and how important their role is to step forward and help in improving the existing conditions of government schools, says Bashir Ahmed Mughal, Head Master Govt. Boys High School Sukheki.
Time to Decide
There are chances that govt. may be able to realize the dreams of UPE & USE, but in scarcity of clean drinking water, without any playground/sports facilities, poor condition of hygiene, in-sufficient toilets/washing places, teaching the future cadres of Pakistan in rented buildings, and leaving roughly 3000 future mothers at the mercy of fallen boundary walls, what kind of “education” the State of Pakistan is imparting?
Summing up, I leave a question open to the state of Pakistan, the two members of National Assembly of Pakistan and the three members of Punjab Assembly of Pakistan from Hafizabad District, the civil society, the feudal elite ruling for the last four decades, and the concerned office bearers of education department in the words of William Hale: “Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school, every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be filled with a lifelong desire to know it.”