SHANGLA: The residents of Bisham area have demanded of the government to begin classes in the newly-built government girls primary and middle school, Butyal, saying students aren’t comfortable in rented buildings.

They told Dawn that the school building was put up last year but the classes had yet to be begun there.

“The school has been functioning in rented houses for three years with small rooms and without washroom and drinking water facility to the misery of students,” said resident Guldad Khan.

He said the rented buildings even didn’t adjust furniture.

A teacher said the school had two sections, including primary and middle.

She said the school was upgraded to the high school level but the education department had yet to issue orders for the start of high classes.

“The primary section’s building is not comfortable for students, especially in the scorching heat,” she added.

The other staff members said 351 students were enrolled in the primary section and 120 in the middle, while many had quit due to a lack of facilities.

Nida Umar, a second grader, said her classroom was overcrowded and didn’t have a ceiling fan causing suffocation.

She said 150 students sat in the 12x12 room.

The student demanded the early shifting of classes to the school’s new building.

When contacted, sub-divisional officer (planning and development) in the education department for girls in Shangla Ikramullah said a team based in Peshawar visited the new building and found certain deficiencies in it.

He said the department had stopped the building’s handover to the school management until the department issued an order for the purpose.

The SDO claimed that currently, the school was of the primary level in the department’s documents as middle and high sections had been shifted to the new building in Bisham.

He said the landlord claimed he had given two kanals of land for the school, while the department’s records showed the land measured four kanals.

The SDO said efforts were under way for the early shifting of the school to the new building.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2019