It is morning children are herding sheep towards nearby fields for grazing, people are going to the city on daily wages and a few are sitting in Otaq a makeshift guest house for men only and we have just arrived in the village Gul Mallah located at union council Qadi Qazia, taluka and district Badin at a distance of approximately 11 km from the district head quarter.
The summer vacation is still on children are either playing or engaged in different activities of grazing cattle, bringing wooden sticks for cooking and going with their elders to help them in the field etc.
The villagers are not rich enough to send their children to private schools and afford transport expenses so paying off tuition fees or bearing summer coaching expenses is a far cry for them.
The village is blessed with a government boys primary school running more than50 years but still shelterless the entrance closed with a branch of tree. I was awed to see the pathetic condition of the school having no basic facilities imperative to learning in this modern era of technology. The villagers have grave concern over this. Mohamamd Hassan Mallah, 28 years, father of two children could not continue his studies further due to poverty and chose farming instead. Hassan is worried about the future of his children and does not want them to end their life being a farmer like him.
”A snake was also found in the school before vacation and on that day the school remained closed as students or even teachers were frightened,” shares another resident of the village Jaan Mohmmad Mallah. There are 170 students enrolled in the school out them more than 100 attend their respective classes on regular basis and the teaching faculty has two teachers one is female and the other male. The retired teacher Ghulam Muhammad Mallah now in his 70s share, “I studied in this school and was appointed as a teacher and now retired but the fate of the school could not be changed for past fifty years after many voices raised before politicians and education department made only hollow pledges to furnish school with facilities.” But lack of basic facilities is a big obstacle in imparting quality education. According Alif Ailaan Badin District ranks report 2016-17 the district is ranked at 124 out of 141 of all districts in the country having only 44.99 education score with 30.61 learning, 34.43 retention and 69.93 gender parity scores. And more than 500 schools out of 3051 schools in the district are shelterless while the rest have not even provided with basic facilities of water, electricity and boundary wall.
The entire district rich in natural resources depicts dismal situation of education. Schools like government boys primary school Gul Mallahin the district need to be equipped with basic facilities urgently to improve quality of education to secure children to brighten the name of country.
Published in Daily Times, July 6th 2018.
