RAWALPINDI: Buildings of 125 government-run schools in Rawalpindi district have been declared partially dangerous, posing threats to the lives of thousands of students.

According to a survey conducted by Rawalpindi’s education department, building of 125 schools have been found unsuitable due to the dilapidated condition of the classrooms.

Meanwhile, all classrooms of Government Primary School Dhoke Hashoo Gujar Khan and Primary School Paswal Taxila have been declared dangerous.

A source, who was part of the survey team, said there were 38 buildings in Rawa-lpindi city, eight in Taxila, 16 in Murree, 16 in Kotli Sattian, six in Kahuta and 40 in Gujar Khan, which have been declared dangerous.

He said schools in question have a number of classrooms and a few of them are dangerous. “It is not a big issue, we have over 1,900 schools in Rawalpindi district and out of them, 125 buildings have been declared partially dangerous,” he said.

Speaking to Dawn, Executive District Officer Education Qazi Zahoorul Haq said buildings of 125 schools, which were partially dilapidated, were pointed out by the survey team and have been closed for the safety of students. He said the Punjab government was paying special attention towards schools in the province.

“For reconstruction of the dangerous building, the government has earmarked Rs55 million in the fiscal year 2014-15 for the Rawalpindi district,” he said, adding that “We will start the project of reconstruction soon; we are planning to start construction in phases as the government usually releases the budget in installments.”

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014