Three years on, school building not rebuilt
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Poonch, March 15
Three years after the building of Government Primary School, Phagwari, in the Mandi area, collapsed due to strong winds and heavy rainfall, the government is yet to repair it, forcing students to study in open. They have to wind up their studies during rainy days with no school building.

A teacher of the school told The Tribune that after the school building---comprising a hall and a store--- collapsed in 2006, the state government didn’t bother to get the building reconstructed, as the government did not provide funds for the reconstruction, He added that they had to keep the school records and other things, including furniture, in private houses.

Sarpanch of Phagwari Ghulam Muhammad said, “Even after several representations to the government on the matter, it has failed to get the building reconstructed. However, as a sign of mere tokenism the government has given a tent to the teachers to run the school, but it is not possible to run the classes in a single tent”.

A senior officer in the Education Department in Poonch said, “We don’t have funds to reconstruct the school building. As soon as we get funds we will reconstruct it. He added that to mitigate the sufferings of the students, the department has given a tent to the school.