KHYBER: Most of the students of the Government Degree College for Girls, Bara, are forced to sit on the floor to take classes owing to non-availability of furniture.

Established in December 2022 under the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP) with the main building almost 90 per cent complete, the lone girls’ college in Bara tehsil is yet to be handed over to the education department. The number of students has increased from 15 at the time of the college’s opening to over 250 during the current academic session, sources in the institution told Dawn.

They said seating arrangements were available for only 65 students and the rest attended their classes while sitting on the floor of their classrooms. Furniture for the offices too was borrowed from other colleges due to lack of funds, they added.

The students said that with winter fast approaching, it was torturous for them to sit on bare floor. They said that the project management unit (PMU) of the education department had not yet provided the college with any science laboratory despite the fact that it had 120 pre-medical and pre-engineering students.

Computer science students also complained about non-availability of any computer lab in the college, while most students have to arrange transportation from their own resources as the college has yet to acquire its own buses for students.

The college has a hostel facility but neither the students nor the staff members avail it due to security concerns as the college currently has only two armed guards.

Members of the college management said that the police declined their repeated requests for additional security due to shortage of personnel.

Students and the staff members, however, expressed their satisfaction with the provision of electricity with solar panels back-up and water to the college.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024