Listen to this articleBy Hani Ramzan
If you look at the under-construction building on a sand dune from a distance, you won’t figure out that it is a Girls Primary School. But when you move closer, you realize that young girls of Babbar Shor study here in the Government Primary School, Pasni.
This is a government school only in name, but the Education Department has neither provided any building nor any furniture and other basic things needed in a school.
When the school was to be set up in 2015, the local residents, on their own, provided a room and the educational activities kicked off.
Babbar Shor School is quenching the local girls’ thirst for education to some extent. Since its foundation, the school has been run in makeshift one-room houses provided by the locals on a temporary basis.
Earlier it was housed in a similar room provided by another native. But the school had to be shifted to its current temporary abode, as the owner moved in the previous building for his own use.
A teacher at the school, Sajida Haneef told Pak Voices that currently there are 26 girls enrolled at the school and the number is increasing at a steady pace.
When Pak Voices contacted Muneer Naodezi, Director Education Department, Gwadar to get the version of the government, he had no update regarding the school at the moment. He said, “I have taken the charge of the Department just three months ago and I do not have any updates regarding this school (Government Primary School Babbar Shor, Pasni).
“I will visit the school after summer vacation and will write a letter to the Provincial Government to release funds for the school building.”
Saleem Baloch another resident of the area spoke to Pak Voice saying, “The fact that the school has no building of its own even after two years of its establishment, it raises a big question mark on the performance of the Education Department.”
An eminent personality from Pasni donated a plot for the school to the Education Department, but so far nothing has been done regarding the construction of the building there.
According to the local residents, the girls have no other option as even the nearest girls school is located quite far and hence inaccessible for them.
Zaheer Ameet, a local social worker, spoke to Pak Voices saying, “The girls are eager to get the education. But it’s impossible to teach them all in a single room, as they are graded into different levels.”
He added, “If the building is not provided soon, it could keep a lot of promising girls out of school”.
The parents of the enrolled students have aired their reservations adding that the present house owner can ask the school administration anytime to vacate his house. “In that case, the school would have no place to occupy which may result in its closure.”
Hani Ramzan is working with PakVoices as a citizen journalist from Pasni, Gwadar.
Edited by Hasan Khan
Translated by Tariq Mehmood
