ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Monday expressed concerns over choked toilets in many government schools and denial of admission to a large number of students in the model schools of Islamabad.

The subcommittee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat met at the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) under the convenership of MNA Nafeesa Khattak. The meeting was also attended by MNA Farhana Qamar.

Ms Khat tak said many schools in the capital did not have clean toilets, forcing the students not to use them.

As a result, the students were at the risk of kidney diseases.

She said the FDE and the Capital Administration and Development Division should first focus on the provision of toilets in the institutions under the prime minister`s education reforms programme.

`If there is any funding issue the parents are willing to pay but please pay heeds towards this grave issue,` she said.

Minister of State for CADD Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry informed the committee that under the reforms initiative, besides other steps, physical infrastructure of all the 423 educational institutions would be improved.

`We will demolish all the choked toilets to ensure that the educational institutions got neat and clean toilets,` he said.

The FDE officials informed the meeting that during the current year the schools and colleges granted admission to 46,519 students in class prep, 1 and VI. However, they said model colleges-cum-schools were already crowded.

Ali Raza, CADD`s adviser on the PM reforms programme, said after full implementation the initiative would bring a real change in the education sector of the federal capital.

The convener of the committee also raised the use of drugs in educational institutions. However, FDE Director General Hasnat Qureshi said there was no drug use on the premises of educational institutions. `If anyone has any credible information they should share it with us,` he said.

Though during the meeting the committee mostly focused on the admissions and alleged use of drugs in educational institutions, the FDE officials through a working paper informed the committee that electricity supply to Haris Shaheed Model School in Saidpur village had been disconnected because of non-payment of bills. The suspension of the electricity has forced over 700 students to bear the brunt of heat waves.

The working paper showed that as per an agreement the CDA was responsible to provide electricity to the school but in March this year Iesco disconnected supply to the CDA installations that also led to the suspension of power to the school.

Officials of the FDE Dawn spolce to added that the school was being run in a temple building which was the property of the CDA. According to the agreement inked during the tenure of former CDA chairman Kamran Lashari, the civic agency was supposed to provide electricity to the school.

The working paper, however, said the FDE had approached the CDA with a request to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) so that the school could apply for the installation of its own meter.

`Though under the agreement CDA is responsible to provide us electricity from its own connections in nearby areas, we have requested the civic agency to issue us an NOC so that we can apply for a separate electricity connection, FDE Director General Hasnat Qureshi told Dawn.