Teachers uncertain on fate of school buildings being shut down in KP

DI KHAN/PESHAWAR: In an attempt to improve the quality of education, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is closing down over 1,000 primary schools which have less than 50 students. 

But the decision has yet to be taken on what the authorities concerned would do with the vacated school buildings.

While talking to Geo News, teachers in schools of DI Khan district said they were not sure what the education department would do with the closed-down buildings. 

The teachers feared billions of rupees used on the construction of these schools would go down the drain if the buildings are sold for less than their value.

Out of the over 1,000 schools that are being closed down, 22 are in DI Khan.

According to officials concerned, the teachers and students of these primary schools would be sent to other nearby educational institutions, under the KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department’s formula of merging the facilities. 

They added the schools that were being shut down were constructed over the past 20 years for political gains.

A statement issued by the education department stated that the schools established on political basis were set up either in rented buildings, open space, hujra or within the premises of an already existing school.

While talking to Geo News, a spokesperson for the education department, Najiullah Khattak, said the administration of the schools which were being merged were not performing well while enrolment was also low.

However, the education department statement read that the authorities concerned would not merge low-enrolment schools in rural areas as alternate facilities are not available in those areas.

The merger, or rationalisation, of schools started in 2014. So far, more than 700 schools have been merged, including 550 primary schools for boys, 141 girls primary schools and about 35 middle and high schools, according to the education department.

The schools that have been merged are situated in different districts of KP.

For instance, in Swabi, a government primary school was divided into two schools with a wall, as per the statement. 

As a result, two schools with less than 50 students in each were operating in the same premises. However, the schools were merged into one by removing the wall which divided them.

In Karak, a government primary school for girls in the Khairabad area, with less than 25 students, was operating within less than 150 feet of another school in Karaksar. 

Since the former school did not have a proper building, the department merged it with the one in Karaksar that had a teaching staff and relevant facilities.

However, the education department has yet to share details on what will be done with the vacated buildings which were constructed for the sole purpose of providing education.