RAWALPINDI: When it comes to prioritise the areas for spending public funds, the ruling PML-N has always opted for flashy projects.

A similar trend is also seen in the Rawalpindi district where the provincial government has launched the Rs44 billion metro bus project but virtually closed its eyes towards the education sector.

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At a time when the education department is enjoying the strength of around 20,000 schoolteachers, there are 30 primary schools in the district which are being run by only one teacher each, putting the future of the students at a stake.

Teachers with political backing not ready to work in remote areas

“Around 30 schools in the district have single teacher each,” confirmed Executive District Officer (education) Qazi Zahoorul Haq while talking to Dawn.

In reply to a question, he also acknowledged that according to rules a school cannot be run by a single teacher. He, however, claimed that very soon all such schools would be provided with the required teachers.

Sources in the education department said majority of the schools with single teacher were located in the two remote and neglected tehsils of Kotli Sattian and Murree.

The sources said whenever the department transferred any teacher to these areas, they managed to get their transfer orders cancelled with the backing of politicians.

They said the enrollment in these areas cannot be improved until the schools were provided with the required staff. “After seeing the single-teacher schools, people do not take the risk of getting their children enrolled in them,” said a senior officer in the education department.

He said due to the lack of facilities, around seven million children were out of school across the country which was the second highest figure in the world.

Badrus Sabtain Satti, a schoolteacher in Kotli Sattian, said around 17 single-teacher schools were functioning in the tehsil.

“This is sheer injustice with the students of this neglected area. How can a teacher handle five classes and around 100 students?” In addition to this, he said, the single teacher was also supposed to attend departmental meetings.

Mr Satti said the forth and fifth graders were supposed to be taught five subjects in a day. “How a single-teacher can perform his duty so he [teacher] prefers to teach all the students in one go.”

Zafar Gul Niaz, a schoolteacher in Murree, said it seemed the department had no time to think about the future of students in the remote areas.

“In Murree, whenever the department tried to send a new teacher to the remote area they managed to cancel their transfer orders and the same happened in the recently-implemented reallocation policy.” He said whenever the teachers took up the issue with the department its officials said they were helpless.

When the only teacher takes leave due to any reason, there is no one to teach the students.

The deputy district education officers (DDEO) of the areas, however, denied that the schools with single teachers remained closed in the absence of the only educator teacher any reason.

“We always make it sure that schools should remain open. Whenever, the single teacher gets ill or takes leave, we arrange his substitute from another school,” said Amjad Mahmood, the DDEO of Kotli Sattian.

It may be noted that there are over 200 schools in the district which even do not have electricity and are facing acute shortage of other basic facilities.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014