Hundreds of school students in Gilgit along with their parents took to the streets against unreasonable hikes in their school fees.
The students have complained that their schools lack even the basic requirements, they do not have furniture, they have to sit in open classrooms and have no drinking water facility.
A disgruntled student speaking about the condition of his school, said, “We have gathered here to protest against the unwarranted fee hike in our schools. They are increasing school fees every other day. If they are increasing the fee, what facilities are they providing us? We do not have cool water to drink during scorching summers. There is no proper arrangement for drinking water”
They complain, that there are no teachers in their school for certain subjects and often the classrooms are herded with students with no one to impart knowledge and education.
“There is no teacher appointed for the subject of Physics. We do not have a regular teacher for Physics. There is nothing in our science lab. They do not teach us anything, we are just herded inside the room. Our motive behind paying the fee is not this!,” the student added.
The public schools in Gilgit-Baltistan have been in dire straits for decades. The local administration has turned a blind eye to the education sector in the illegally occupied territory.
Earlier, Karakoram University students also held similar protests against the administration for unreasonable increases in their college fees.
It has been a continuous attempt of Islamabad to keep the youngsters of Gilgit Baltistan deprived of education and other human development opportunities.
In such a scenario becoming an educated and intellectual individual is still a distant dream for the young population of Gilgit-Baltistan.
