Roses blossom in Cholistan desert, at
last
By: Qudrat Ullah
The
vast Cholistan desert is situated in south Punjab.
It is mostly sandy land which sprawls over an area of
6.65 million acres in the districts of Bahawalnagar,
Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
Here, the population is mostly associated with
agriculture and livestock farming.
They usually live in small villages that are near water
ponds and deep wells.
Water and cattle farming are their two essential sources
of livelihood.
This archaic pattern of life remains the same even
through generations.
Keeping in view the educational needs of the area, Cholistan
Development Authority (CDA) — an autonomous body under the
Punjab government — set up 75 non formal community schools
in 2009 under its ‘Parha Likha Cholistan’ project.
These schools proved a big help in promoting education by
catering to the needs of Cholistani students, who live in
the most impoverished region of Punjab.
Although these schools were run on non-formal mode but they
had formal schooling arrangements for the students. However,
these students were not counted as ‘enrolled’ in Punjab
School Education Department’s statistics.
They were actually counted nowhere.
Only four of the 75 schools had proper school buildings, and
the rest were run either in the open or in shabby rooms
provided by the local community. Similarly, none of the
schools had any furniture or any other facility for
education.
Initially, two teachers for
each school were provided by the community and were paid
Rs5000 and Rs2500 respectively by the CDA since 2009,
without any increase.
Meanwhile, CDA didn’t even
develop any system of teachers’ training or students’
academic assessment.
Initially, two teachers for
each school were provided by the community and were paid
Rs5000 and Rs2500 respectively by the CDA since 2009,
without any increase.
Meanwhile, CDA didn’t even
develop any system of teachers’ training or students’
academic assessment.
The district governments of
these three districts were supposed to provide free text
books to the students, but that was usually done only after
their own needs were met with.
The significant fact about
the schools was the girls’ enrolment, which was much higher
than the boys. But with the P&D funded project closing,
there was no certainty about the future of these students.
On the other hand, the chief
minister of Punjab was keen to ensure balanced development
for southern Punjab, particularly in Cholistan where Quaid e
Azam Solar Park and Cholistan Package worth Rs2.3 billion
are underway.
But the locals were very
anxious about the academic future of their children after
the expiry of the CDA managed ‘Parha Likha Project.’
Meanwhile, the district administration of Bahawalpur built
six school buildings in Cholistan with the help of local
philanthropists.
With a view to continue the educational process for
Cholistani students, secretary school education sent a
summary to the chief minister, proposing adoption of these
schools by the Punjab Education Foundation, which has a long
experience of running such schools through public-private
partnerships.
Keeping in view the
importance of the issue, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
accorded approval in April 2014 and since then, PEF has
adopted these schools and is sponsoring the education of
students enrolled in these schools with an amount of Rs450
per month, per child.
The PEF intervention has
formalised the schools and it is expected that a number of
improvements will be introduced by the foundation.The Punjab
Education Foundation has already completed its baseline
survey of these schools.
This survey was conducted in
two parts; the first part was managed by monitoring and
evaluation department, which checked infrastructure, etc,
while the second part was conducted by academic development
unit which took a sample test of students to determine their
academic standards.
This survey would be helpful
to determine present conditions of schools’ infrastructure,
academic standards and educational opportunities for male
and female students.
Current financial outflow of these schools is Rs28 million
per annum. It is decided that a comprehensive system of
teachers’ training, students’ assessment and quality
assurance will be brought by the PEF Current financial
outflow of these schools is Rs28 million per annum.
It is decided that a
comprehensive system of teachers’ training, students’
assessment and quality assurance will be brought by the PEF.
CM Shahbaz Sharif has directed that all schools should to be
given free land by the CDA and proper buildings should also
be constructed before the end of FY 2014-15.
Therefore, a sum of Rs150
million has been allocated by the School Education
Department for this purpose. CDA shall complete provisions
of furniture and other school supplies to all the schools
before the end of FY 2014-15.
It is also decided that all
closed schools shall be re-opened within the next three
months. Keeping in view the increase in population,
especially in the number of students, the Punjab government
has further decided to upgrade schools to elementary level
wherever the need arises.
This will have a strong and lasting impact on the future of
thousands of children and the possibility of enrolment of
out of school/dropout children in the poorest region of
Punjab is an exciting opportunity.
With the chief minister’s
focus on the development of southern Punjab, particularly
through mega projects like Quaid e Azam Solar Park, the time
is ripe to invest in the local children to win over hearts
and minds through education.
It is worthwhile to note that
the Punjab government has committed a package of Rs2.3
billion in infrastructure; hence an intervention in capacity
building is imperative.
December, 2014
Source: Pakistan
Today