Zubair Qureshi
Educational institutes under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) are facing shortage of classrooms, hampering the government efforts to enroll maximum number of children in schools.
Due to increase in the population of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with the passage of time the existing educational institutions are seeing overwhelming number of admissions of more children than these institutions capacity.
Principals, teachers of the Islamabad Model Schools, FG schools and colleges have demanded of the federal government to establish further classrooms in the existing public sector educational institutions.
The principals and heads of institutions have also urged the government to increase literacy rate in the federal capital by establishing new classrooms if it wants to increase enrollment out of schoolchildren as it was also part of the manifesto of the ruling party to provide quality education to the students.
The project for the establishment of new classrooms at 423 schools, colleges working under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) was supposed to be completed during the tenure of the last government but due to change of the political scenario in the country it was halted.
They said that less number of classrooms at ICT educational institutions was a major hurdle in enrollment of more children as per manifesto of the government. They appealed to the government to pay special focus on the issue.
“We have taken a few steps at our own in the schools including white-wash, renovation of wash rooms and planting of trees due to which a number of students approached for admission,” Principal of an IMS said.
However, she said, absence of class rooms in public sector educational institutions was creating panic for the parents as they were unable to enroll their children at private sector schools for maximum facilities.
Another teacher said renovation and establishment of new classrooms at schools and colleges were still in doldrums.
When contacted, an official of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) stated FDE has decided to expand the project for construction of new classrooms in the schools, colleges of the federal capital.
He said a project to construct more classrooms in the already established educational institutions would also be initiated. The official said the project would help achieve the target for mitigating the out-of-schoolchildren ratio under new educational policy.
“Last year, several students could not get admissions due to lack of space, however with the establishment of new institutions and class rooms in the existing institutions, maximum number of children would be able to get benefit from public sector institutions,” he remarked.
He went on to say that establishment of new educational institutions was mandatory for the complete implementation of new educational policy launched by the present government.
