Daily Times

Sir: Pakistan’s performance in the world of sports is extremely dismal. The reasons for this poor show are quite obvious. There is no concept of sports at our elementary or secondary stage of education.

I hail from Jalandhar in India, where most of the schools had playgrounds. It was then believed that harmonious development of physical and mental faculties of students could only make a healthy nation. After the partition, imbued with the aim of establishing an ideal educational campus where side by side with ideal academic environment, comprehensive sport facilities like athletics track, and provision for hockey and cricket grounds and other games should also exist, I purchased a vast tract of about 122 kanals of land in the suburbs of Lahore. Working on the project for nearly a decade, I have turned my dream into reality by establishing a huge school campus known as Gohar Educational Campus with ideal sports facilities. The school is located on the bank of Lahore canal close to the Multan Road within the revenue limits of Chah Tamoli, about 25 kilomtres from Lahore. The school has become operational for the last 2 years with highly qualified and experienced teaching staff. I have created a Trust, which oversees its administration, and runs it as a charity without monetary gains.
Despite being a non-profit venture, the facilities provided in the school are better than most elite schools of Lahore. Unfortunately, the school is beset with problems which appear to be insurmountable in the present regime for whom education has the lowest priority. The foremost of these is the need to metal the road parallel to the canal which provides an access to students coming from adjoining villages. This is the long-standing demand of the public of this area that needs immediate attention of the government. The second problem is our inability to construct the school’s outer wall. Some miscreants from village Chah Tamoli object to the construction of the wall on baseless grounds. In the face of the worsening law and order situation, students’ safety cannot be guaranteed without a secure outer wall. The government too, after the Peshawar school massacre, had made the construction of outer walls around school buildings mandatory. On numerous times, the local police and revenue authorities were approached but to no avail. Thus, the lives of students and staff remain in constant peril. I humbly request the Chief Minister Punjab to order the local authorities to provide necessary security to the school to enable it to construct its wall, before another Peshawar massacre is enacted in Lahore.
ZIAUL HASSAN MIAN
Lahore