PESHAWAR, Nov 4: The lengthy procedure, set by the provincial government to get private buildings on rent for establishing state-run primary schools, is discouraging the owners of the properties and education department alike, according to sources.

They said that education department had established schools in rented buildings in those areas where it couldn`t buy land for construction of building due to high prices, particularly in the urban and hilly areas. `It is the complicated criteria and meagre rent which has discouraged the owners to rent out their properties to education department for establishing schools,` an official of the elementary and secondary education department told Dawn.

He said that as the complicated criteria discouraged the owners of the private buildings, the education department was left with no option but to merge such schools with others, located at a distant but having buildings. Usually, it is difficult for small children of the merged primary schools to go on foot to other schools, located away from their homes.About 368 government primary schools including 143 for boys and 225 for girls are functioning in rented buildings.

In the absence of the government buildings for the schools, three primary schools have been functioning in the Government Girls Primary School Afghan Colony in Peshawar city. `There are 15 rooms for 2,200 students in this school,` the official said. He said that two other schools could be established easily in private buildings if government relaxed its policy for getting a building on rent for school.

According to officials, the education department can`t get a building on rent directly. The communication and works department, deputy commissioner and office of the provincial accountant general are also involved in the process.

The officials concerned at the circle level of each district first select a building for getting it on rent in an area where no government schoolexists. After selection of the building, the officials of the communication and works department visit to assess the selected building and fix its rent.

`However, the communication and works department pays little heed to the assessment on the request of the education department as usually it doesn`t complete the process in months,` said an official.

He said that he had placed a request with communication and works department in December 2012 for assessment of a school but in vain. `As the assessment and other procedures have not completed so far, the education department has not paid the rent to the owner of the building,` he said. Now the owner was asking them to leave his building and shift the school to other place, he said.

The official said that the assessment of the building was carried out by the communication and works department every year. Once the rent was fixed by communication and works department, a proposal was sent to the education office, which further sent it to the deputy commissioner office for approval, he added.

After approval by the deputy commissioner, the proposal was sent to the accountant general office to release the required amount, the official said.

According to government rules, the rent of buildings should be increased 15 per cent after each three years, an assistant sub-divisional education officer told Dawn. `However, one of the primary schools has been functioning in my circle since 1990 but its rent has not been increased till now,` he said.

The government was paying Rs2,500 monthly rent to the owner of the building, consisting of five rooms with 20-marla covered land, he said. Secondly, the government released fund for rent to pay to the owners at the end of the year, he said. `Why an owner should wait for one year to receive rent of his building,` the official questioned. Ironically, he said, the entire procedure had to be pursued by the owners of the buildings instead of the officials concerned.