ISLAMABAD - Despite charging heavy fee from parents, many private schools in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi had failed to provide quality sports and extra-curricular activities, which is affecting students’ physical and mental health.
The private school industry has grown and flourished extensively in almost every city, district and even small towns at a fast pace, especially in the last couple of decades. Sports and playing activities play important role in students’ lives by teaching them sportsmanship, physical fitness, team spirit, mental strength, constructive use of time, maintaining health, confidence and decision making.
Students can also use sports as a recreational activity to get away from their hectic academic schedules for sometime. Due to a low standard of education in public schools, people prefer sending their children to private schools.
However, a lot of these private schools have been unable to fulfil the expectations of parents.
A lot of parents in twin cities have expressed concerns over shortage of playgrounds and urged the officials concerned to construct playgrounds in their respective schools.
Talking to APP, Rayan Sadique, father of a child, said most of the schools do not have playgrounds due to the lack of space. He said a large number of schools were operating in small houses, hence were unable to accommodate playgrounds. Resultantly, the situation has forced several schools’ authorities to use parks and residential streets as playgrounds that is creating problems for the residents, he added.
Similarly, Ayesha Noor, mother of a student, said schools without playgrounds should not be allowed to function. She said private schools, despite charging heavy fee from parents, had failed to provide quality sports and extra-curricular activities.
Unfortunately, none of the government authorities was willing to take action against such schools, she said adding that the government alone was not to be blamed, rather the schools were equally responsible for the negligence.
A physical training instructor serving in a government school said usually the private schools did not arrange sports activities in their schools as most of the schools had no playgrounds or “school heads were unaware of the importance of physical training and games for students”.
He said, “Students use school playgrounds to play games with their schoolfellows during break hours. And if there are no playgrounds inside or adjacent to schools, they would be compelled to play on roads or on streets.”
An official of Private Schools Association said it was mandatory for schools’ administrations to arrange cricket, hockey, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastic competitions and physical training sessions for students at the school level however, such activities were rarely taking place.
He, nevertheless, was unable to answer as to why no action was being taken against schools that lacked playgrounds.