Daily Times

Sir: Every year a myriad of students from to different walks of life and fields of study migrate to the city of lights in hope of a better future. Apparently, as an exemplar of higher education, the Provincial capital of Punjab can be termed as the city of educational institutes as well. Some of the most preeminent educational institutions of Pakistan are situated in Lahore. These include King Edward Medical College (KEMU), Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMC), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), The University of the Punjab (PU), University of Engineering & Technology (UET) and Government College University (GCU).

Although the overall reputation of this Provincial Capital is telling when compared to other developed Provincial capitals in the country, the overall educational ranking of Lahore is declining somewhat each year. Despite being a beacon for all these prestigious institutions, the education sector of primary and middle level schools is failing badly based on educational scores and infrastructure. However, the primary reason for the yearly descent of Lahore’s district ranking is infrastructure.

The condition of government school buildings in Lahore is not satisfactory. Although basic amenities like drinking water, toilets, and electricity are present, the overall architecture of most of the classrooms is abysmal. Either the buildings don’t have enough classrooms, or there are no classrooms at all. Many buildings are in disrepair and are not welcoming for the students.

For instance, a government school in NA-124 has been in ruin for three years. Another one in NA-120 got demolished a year ago and hasn’t been rebuilt since and many others are following the same fate.

To summarise, the government seems to not care about the demolition of and the unsatisfactory conditions of school buildings. There is an imminent need to address this crucial issue and raise awareness about it among the general population.

To bring such issues to the attention of the common people as well as the concerned authorities, there is an initiative by the name of Ilm Dost, previously known as Ilmi Pindaal, that works on accumulating such stories and highlighting such pivotal issues on the platform of social, print and electronic media to raise awareness.

Every person should be a comrade of knowledge and should not hesitate to talk about education as their own problem and discover solutions. Furthermore, people should not ignore public education even if they can afford to send their children to private schools. Being citizens of Pakistan, it is our sacred obligation to champion the right to education for everyone, regardless of the thickness of their wallet.

MUDASSIR ZIA

Via E-mail

Published in Daily Times, January 16^th 2018.