By: Kamran Khamiso Khowaja
SUJAWAL: Two students sustained critical injuries when plaster of a classroom’s roof fell on them in Government Primary School Usman Malah a few kilometers away from Jati town of district Sujawal on Wednesday. The students were rushed to Taluka Hospital Jati where they were given emergency treatment.
Following the irksome incident, villagers staged a protest demonstration demanding a new school building for their village. They said that for the past many years the school building was in a dilapidated condition but neither elected representatives of the area nor the officials of the education department were taking the matter seriously.
A Teacher who was present there when the incident ensued told local reporters that as soon as the incident occurred the students in the classroom started crying in fear. Adding that the condition of the school building was pathetic and posing a dire threat to the lives of students as well as teachers.
According to information gathered by this correspondent, there are 6 middle schools for boys in Taluka Jati, 3 of them are functioning in the building of primary schools, however, the buildings of 2 schools were in dilapidated condition. On the other hand, buildings of three state-owned middle schools for girls were also in a decrepit state.
Furthermore, out of 421 Government Primary Schools in Taluka, the buildings of as many as 100 schools were in a vulnerable condition. An official of the Taluka education department requesting anonymity told this ascribe that only 10 schools had been renovated during the past 5 years and buildings of several schools in the area were on the verge of collapse. Social activist Sahib Dino Thaheem said that the criminal silence of the concerned authorities and stakeholders had risked the lives of hundreds of thousands of students and teachers.