According to sources, both teachers and students spend hours —
travelling back and forth — between their residence and school/colleges.
During
peak hours, over crowded vehicles create anxiety among students. They are not
allowed by the bus-conductor to have a seat, so they are seen on the roofs of
the buses.
There
are always more students in the buses than its capacity, which is dangerous and
has often caused major road accidents.
Realising this fact, the former prime minister Gilani announced
“Transport Facility” for students on Oct 8, 2010.
Later
on, a Directive (No.2607) was issued on 17-02-2011 which read as: “Ministry of
Education in collaboration with CDA and ICT administration should arrange for
transport facilities for the students and teachers especially in rural areas of
ICT.”
A
faculty member of the college requesting not to be identified said: “Like other
announcements of the former prime minister i.e. opening of Model University and
Federation Public School in capital, this project was also buried in the office
files.”
The
educational institutions under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have some
203,800 students enrolled.
There
are 8,558 teachers of 421 educational institutions of the city. The majority of
the students and teachers use buses to go to their institutions.
A
faculty member said that despite having a large number of students, there is no
reliable transport system available for the students, which could provide them
with safety and comfort, while travelling to their institutions.
It
is commonly seen that students hang dangerously on to buses because of little
or no space inside. The drivers are ignorant to the situation inside the buses.
“Whatever
the situation, ultimately students bear the brunt in the end. Insufficient
allocation of funds is the prime reason for bringing the transport system to
this awful condition. In the present situation it is a challenging task to
accommodate such a large number of students, but this can be managed if CDA
provides transport to students,” he said.
“In
the absence of an effective transport system, majority of the students have to
make personal travel arrangements, which means using either private conveyance
or public transport. Some students who get motorbikes, they get involved in one
wheeling and over speeding,” he said.
Another
teacher said that in May 2009, during a ceremony held in H-9 college,
half-a-million was paid to a class IV employee of the federal government whose
only son lost his life, while going home, after attending college.
“The
student was run over by a bus. Such tragedies are repeated every year and local
leaders are invited to distribute money as an opportunity of point-scoring but
no-one has tried to solve the transport issue,” he said.
A
student of a model school, Muhammad Zohaib while talking to Dawn said that he
knows that it was dangerous to travel in buses but he had no alternate.
“There
are just a few buses in schools and colleges but all students cannot travel in
them. So government should introduce a transport system in the city,” he said.
Professor
Tahir Mahmood, spokesman for Federal Government College Teachers Association
said: “It seems the institutions and their heads at the helm of affairs wait
for the day until another life is lost on the road. There are plenty of
resources with FDE and CAD. Perhaps all that they badly lack is the
realisation.”
“FGCTA,
an elected body of college teachers and a welfare organisation, demands that
CAD and CDA must obey the Prime Minister’s directive and save the poor students
from the humiliation and disgrace they face everyday,” he said.
Spokesman
of Capital Development Authority (CDA), Masoodur Rehman said that project of
transport service is in the pipeline.
“So
far six companies have contacted us and CDA has been examining which company is
financially stable. Our concern is to provide affordable and comfortable
transport services. As far as bus service for students is concerned, it will be
decided after the start of the bus service,” he said.
Joint Secretary CAD
(admin) Islam Wazir said that according to his knowledge so far there is no
development on project of bus service. However, he said that he will look into
it, if the bus service can get started.
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