Several KP schools declared dilapidated after deadly Peshawar school collapse

Several government schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been found dilapidated in inspections launched after a catastrophic roof fall at a private school in Peshawar that killed 34 people, including 32 children and two female teachers.

The provincial education administration said preliminary inspection reports had found dilapidated school buildings and classrooms in numerous districts after videos showing the bad state of schools went viral on social media.

Badal, Buner: Four out of six classrooms of a government school in Badal, Buner have been declared in dilapidated condition, the department said. Moreover, 15 out of 20 classrooms at three government schools in Charsadda were found to be in a terrible condition.

In Lower Dir, three government boys’ schools were certified unfit for use, while a government school in Bami Banda, Karak, had two classrooms in deteriorated condition.

The inspection reports also said that four out of five classrooms at two government schools in Lakki Marwat were in bad condition. In Mardan, four out of 15 classrooms in two government schools were also declared decrepit.

In Dera Ismail Khan it was claimed that all 25 classrooms of two government schools were in a decrepit condition. Meanwhile the three government girls schools in Haripur were also pronounced totally dilapidated.

The education department said the first data had been obtained using films uploaded on social media after the province administration appealed to citizens to recognize schools in need of urgent repairs.

The examination follows the collapse of a private school building in Peshawar’s Dir Colony three days earlier. The catastrophe claimed the lives of 32 children and two female teachers, while over 40 youngsters were injured. The owner of the school was later arrested.

The first information report (FIR) registered in the case said that the pupils had expressed worry to the school management about the state of the structure which was deteriorating and its walls and roof could fall. The FIR says their grievances were not addressed.

Police claimed that 110 youngsters were present at the school during the event that took place in the jurisdiction of Yakatoot police station.

The FIR has named the school’s proprietors, co-owners and contractor and said that poor construction material was utilized in the establishment of Al-Khair Education System in Saeedabad neighborhood of Dir Colony.

After the incident, the province government ordered the inspection of buildings of private schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for safety and constituted inquiry committees at the district level to analyze the structural safety.