Behind every child who dropouts from school in poonch lies a story.
A girl whose parents consider her as a burden on their shoulders and understand that education is not for her and rear them to marry someone or fir their domestic works .
A boy who walks a miles away on an empty stomach to attend the classes.
A tribal student who can’t study properly due to seasonal migration.
A poor father who can’t send his daughter to school due to societal pressure these are not just the statistics but are the silent struggles that a child of a family always endures..
While we always have talked about the infrastructure teacher shortages damaged buildings of schools and rarely we talk about emotional and mental challenges a child face while growing up Poonch continue to struggle with lack in education poonch a scenic border district is a home of Many enthusiastic children’s who have a dream to become doctors engineers teacher and officers of different Posts but for many this is only a dream due to underprivileged conditions of the city many childrens aspire to fulfill their dreams but they can’t because of lacks in educational facilities.
Many primary schools operate with only 1 teacher with a dozens of students, the post of teachers remain vacant ,the teachers also don’t pay attention because of their pending salaries and their personal grudges.the absenteeism of teacher is also common in various schols of poonch .
The primary and middle schools remain closed throughout the year appointed officer never go there for inspection and no one ever question them regarding this issue the teachers don’t provide the basic education that is a necessity of every child and play a pivotal role in shaping individuals future .the schols building are damaged and broken .
A local residents Said that the school is devoid of infrastructure toilets desks chairs and sitting areas.
Education is seen as a luxury not as a necessity. a local boy shares that we exchanged our bokss because of poverty we can’t afford the new ones .the emotional challenges is another big concern for the child living in a border area from where frequently the horrible sounds of blasts firing gunshots can be listen which brings a mental stress, anxiety,depression, tension, stress and insecurity among children and affect them mentally the and that fear becomes a childhood trauma .
Moreover the schols also lacks in mental health support there are no counselor’s no one to talk to children suffer in silence it is a big concern due to this students while growing up becomes addict of loneliness, anxiety stress and various other mental health problems over this a consultant and the school principal has expressed a grave concern and appeal to chief medical officer (cmo),block medical officer (bmo)and director of health services to look into this matter and take care of children. Suffer from mental health.
The schools in poonch lacks in basic amenities such as smart boards,desks ,counselor’s, physical teacher ,skill teachers, Library rooms, playing grounds, boundary walls ,electrity. Furniture, portable water and science labs .this types of environment makes education unorganising and uninspiring.
Majority of the times only one teacher runs the school for aal grades. The students of govt higher secondary school hari a school in tehsil surankote of poonch district shared that there are many concerning issus in this schools but most important is the unfilled vacancies especially for the subjects like maths and science and is a serious issue and they further said that we urge to zonal education officer (zeo) , chief education officer (ceo)and director school education that we should provide the teachers of unfilled vacancies.
The schools are mostly located far from villages in many parts of the district the areas such as sangla , jmmu shaheed the childrens from the far flung areas walks a long miles to reach to schols through forest and hilly terrain avoiding safety concerns, menace of stray dogs and bears ,exhaustion and eventually leading to dropouts rates .
Poverty and traditional mindsets are still a hindrance to education especially for girls the girls are expected to stay at homes , helps in House hold chores and to marry early .all these are burning issues and societal problems many prominent teachers, mlas, I students,and locals has conveyed the matter to the higher authorities.. despite repeated appeals and visible suffering no concrete action has been taken the affected people merely offered a hollow words of consolation and dismissed without any resolution.
A young phd scholar has raised the concern that For higher education there are only three colleges no medical college no engineering college nothing for higher education the poor children have to suffer a lot and migrate to the other city outside the district which causes harm to them financially and economically. It’s the voice of public and suffered and affected people from various burning issue govt must keep on eye on this matter as soon as possible. Turning dreams into reality to ensure that education is not a necessity but a reality for every child in poonch there is a dire need of urgent and immediate action taken by govt .Schools must be equipped with proper infrastructure and facilities especially teachers, trained skill teacher must be recruited..
Students especially tribal children’s and girls must be encouraged and motivated to study guidance programs , mentorship programs , scholarships for vulnerable childrens support for mental health and counselors should be provided to the residents and students of poonch it’s a big concern and government should works on it and is the demand of locals students and teachers .
Aisha Khatoon
