ISLAMABAD: A hostel is one of the basic needs of students but there is no such facility for boy students belonging to the farflung areas of the country, who are pursuing education in the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE)-run colleges in the capital.

There are 15 boys` colleges being run under the administrative control of the FDE in the city, but none of them offers boarding facility to the students.

According to teachers, there is a dire need for the establishment of hostels in at least three major boys` colleges Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB) H-9, Islamabad Model Postgraduate College (IMPC) H/8 and IMPCC H/8-4 where hundreds of students from other cities are pursing education.

In the absence of hostels, the students are forced to live in private hostels paying a huge rent.

Interestingly, the IMPC, H/8, and the IMCB, H/9, had hostels which fell victims to the negligence of the FDE.

`In private hostels, people from various backgrounds are living, so these are not conducive for students. I have observed that students living in private hostels, after mixing with the inmates of different backgrounds and age groups, acquire bad habits such as smoking,` said a lecturer at the H/9 College.

`The main hostel of the H/9 College is under the use of Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM) while the hostel of the H/8 College, which due to its dilapidated condition was closed in 2008, still awaits renovation, said Professor Sagheer Ahmed Mirani, the president of the Federal Government Teachers` Association.

He said these two colleges used to host over 200 students every year but now students coming from remote areas such as Fata, different areas of KP, GilgitBaltistan and AJK are forced to live in the private hostels.

Prof Mirani said the lack of hostels was also affecting enrollments in the the colleges.

Talking about the Islamabad Model Postgraduate Commerce College, he said so far no serious step had been taken to build the much-needed hostel.

A professor of the H-9 College said the main hostel of the college was `occupied` by a university in 2001 which used it for around 10 years.

In 2001 when the university after bowing to protests stagedby the students of the college vacated the hostel, the same day the PBM, with the backing of the then PPP government, took over the control of the hostel.

He said this was done without any consultation with the principal and teachers of the college.

On the other hand, the PBM has reportedly been claiming that it was given the control of the hostel under an agreement.

`In the absence of a hostel, our students are living in private hostels by paying Rs8000 to Rs12000 rent per month. We are not against PBM`s sweet homes set up for the orphans but the project should not have beenlaunched at the cost of the students,` said a professor.

Currently, a small hostel is functioning in the college where30 students are accommodated against the capacity of 18.

`If the government does not want to get our hostel vacated from the PBM, our college should be given funds for expending the small hostel,` the professor said.

H-8 College Like H/9, the H-8 College also had a hostel that was closed in 2008. As a result, the state-owned building with a capacity to accommodate 80 boarders has become a ghost house with bushes growing around it.

`In the past, a substantial number of students from KP, AJK, Fata and Balochistan lived in the hostel,` said a professor of the college. He said the college administration had taken up the issue dozens of times with theFDE but to no avail.

Mohammad Imran, a student at the H/8 College, added: `I am among hundreds of students of IMCB and IMPCB who are forced to live in private hostels.` He requested the FDE to make the hostel functional.

`There is a dire need of hostels in the three major colleges of Islamabad H/8 Commerce College, H/8 Postgraduate College and H/9 Degree College. A large number of students from remote areas of the country are pursuing their education in these institutions,` said Professor Mehboob Ahmed, an officer-bearer of the Central Academic Staff of Islamabad Model Colleges.

When contacted, FDE spokesman Professor Tahir Bhatti saidthe directorate was aware of the issue.

`Today, DG Qaiser Majid Malik visited the H-8 College to listen to the problems being faced by the students and teachers. He also directed the concerned officers to resolve the hostel issue.` The spokesman said talks were also underway with the PBM to resolve the H/9 College hostel issue.

Khurshid Ahmed Shakoori, the principal of H/8 College, confirmed that the FDE director general visited the college on Saturday. `The DG listened to our problems and assured us that he would play his role to redress them. As far as the hostel issue is concerned, he also assured us that this facility would be made functional very soon, he said.