Poll
User login
Schoolchildren brave cold weather without heaters
Rawalpindi:January 06:Schoolchildren, particularly preschoolers and those falling in the age bracket of 5 to 10, are finding it really hard these days to cope with chilly weather conditions. Only a handful of highly reputable private schools have facilitated their students in the chilly weather with gas or electricity heaters, while the majority of government and private schools don’t provide such facilities to their students.
Students alleged that their teachers enjoy gas and electricity heaters in the staff rooms, while they don’t have any such facility in their classrooms.
Rawalpindi Association of Private Schools (RAPS) General Secretary Tahmeena Malik told ‘The News’ that she has one heater each in every classroom of her school while some other schools are also providing similar facilities to their students in the chilly weather. “All government and private schools should provide this facility to their students, particularly during the peak winter season from December to February, because students could not even pick up their pencils due to the chilly weather,” she added. “Educational institutions have enough resources to provide gas or electric heaters to their students and some funds should be earmarked for facilitating these little souls,” she added.
When ‘The News’ contacted Executive District Officer (EDO) Education Qazi Zahoor, he admitted the fact that students need heaters in severe cold weather. He said: “I will try to provide at least one heater in every classroom in schools this winter. We can provide gas heaters, but from where we will provide gas to them.”
Talking to ‘The News,’ students of public and private educational institutions alleged that concerned managements of educational institutions do not care about them, as they don’t provide heaters to them in severe winter season while teachers enjoy gas as well as electricity heaters in staff rooms. “We light fire by gathering twigs in school grounds every morning to warm our hands and bodies,” a government school student, Niaz Ahmed Qureshi, said.The news.
