RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Punjab Model School Programme (PMSP) has been incomplete in Rahim Yar Khan for the last year despite three times extension to civil works.

According to the education department, the PMSP started with the grants of USAID to upgrade high schools as model schools by providing facilities. Up to 100 schools were selected in 11 districts of Punjab. An amount of Rs10 million was allocated for each school for buying furniture and electronics.

In Rahim Yar Khan, these schools are to be made model schools: government boys high schools of Mao Mubarak, Garhi Ikhtiar Khan, Rukanpur, Ghazipur, Mianwali Qureshian, Jaja Abbasian, Sardargarh, Kotla Pathan and Fatehpur Kamal and girls high school of Fatehpur.

According to education department sources, the renovation work started in these schools last year.

The acting headmaster of a school, Zameer Sanghi, told Dawn the contractor had completed only 45pc of the work till now where floor and walls were coated with cement only. He said tuff tiles had not been fixed.

Jaja Abbasian Headmaster Mansoor Majeed said the project had been extended three times.

A member of the quality control and inspection committee, appointed by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the district education authority, requesting anonymity, said most of the schools were incomplete and not in accordance with the stated standard.

He alleged that some high-ups of the education department were pressurising him to sign the bills of the contractor so that their payments could be made possible but he had refused to do so.

District Education Officer Kastora Jee Shad told Dawn that contractor Sharifullah did not come here to check the civil work, however, his consultant Nabeel looked after the civil work.

Shad said there were two forums to check progress on the project: one, the internal school council, and two, the FAM at the CEO office.

He confirmed that only in two schools, 80pc of civil work had been done. He said most works were according to specifications but in one school tile work was not satisfactory.

CEO Rana Naveed did not pick calls.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Democracy in peril
21 Sep, 2024

Democracy in peril

WHO says the doctrine of necessity lies dead and buried? In the hands of the incumbent regime, it has merely taken...
Far from finish line
21 Sep, 2024

Far from finish line

FROM six cases in the first half of the year, Pakistan has now gone to 18 polio cases. Of the total, 13 have been...
Brutal times
21 Sep, 2024

Brutal times

IT seems that there is no space left for the law to take its course. Vigilantes lurk in the safest spaces, the...
What now?
20 Sep, 2024

What now?

Govt's actions could turn the reserved seats verdict into a major clash between institutions. It is a risky and unfortunate escalation.
IHK election farce
20 Sep, 2024

IHK election farce

WHILE India will be keen to trumpet the holding of elections in held Kashmir as a return to ‘normalcy’, things...
Donating organs
20 Sep, 2024

Donating organs

CERTAIN philanthropic practices require a more scientific temperament than ours to flourish. Deceased organ donation...