RAWALPINDI - Shifting of three educational institutions from cantonment area to remote areas has provoked resentment among the students.

The two Girls Middle School and one Boys school were functioning in Ahata Fazal Elahi and Saddar area since centuries and were known for their historical back ground. One of these schools has been abolished and others have been shifted to far-flung areas. Education department Rawalpindi has issued notification for relocating these schools including Pak Islamia Girls Middle School, Government Model School and Government Shaukat School.
“This was lonely girls school operating in our locality in public sector . How ironical it is that government on one side is opening Danish schools and on the other side it is depriving the marginalized sections of society of educational facilities even at matric  level by closing down the schools, said a group of residents of Saddar area.  “We are from poor segments of society and even can not meet expenses of daily use items. This was the only facility in educational area for our children which has been snatched from us.
How we will bear high expenses of private schools to educate our girls”, said Muhammad Sharif, a shopkeeper. The students and their parents demanded immediate cancellation of notification regarding shifting of schools and their restoration at previous venues.
Meanwhile, students of different schools in Rawalpindi Saddar protested against closure and merging of schools in the areas and blocked traffic by burning tires on the roads. According to details, the students also set their books and bags on fire in the protest, terming the gradual closing and merging of the schools cruel and anti-education step. Later the traders and residents also joined the students in the protest.
The sources told INP that when the students reached their school in Saddar, they were told that the school has been closed permanently therefore they should get admission in some other school, which infuriated the students. The students started chanting slogans against the education authorities of Punjab.
Talking to INP, a group of students said that on one hand Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif was making Danish schools; while on the other hand, he was closing schools full of students. They said that now they had to go to schools in far flung areas to continue their education. They demanded of the chief minister Punjab to take notice of the situation and reopen their school to save them of further nuisance.