FAISALABAD: The provincial government has launched a clean and green drive in union councils; however, scores of public schools, even those in the urban areas, lack sweepers and teachers have to make cleanliness arrangements by obtaining funds from students.

The management of the Government Islami Madrassa High School, Muhammadpura, is facing the wrath of parents for asking the students to pay for purchase of the brushes/brooms used for cleanliness as the governmenthas neither provided it with a sweeper nor giving any funds for cleanliness.

The school is situated just three kilometers from the office of the deputy commissioner who is also the head of the district education authority. However, it has been functioning without the post of a sweeper for more than three decades.

A teacher of the school recently forced more than three dozen students into murga punishment as they could not bring Rs10 each for the cleaning brushes. To ensure the `cleanliness arrangements` the teacher had asked all the students to bring donations.Talking to Dawn, Nasir Ali, whose son is also enrolled in a government school, questioned the efficacy of the clean and green programme when the government was ignoring cleanliness in schools. He termed the clean and green programme eyewash and urged the government to make schools` cleanliness arrangements.

Talking to Dawn, the teachers said they had been ensuring neat and clean office for more than three decades without a sweeper.

They said the school had more than 500 students but the government had done nothing to ensure cleanliness.The teachers said they were giving Rs200 to a local garbage collector on his each visit although the government could make arrangements by engaging the employees of the solid waste management company.

`It is fact that we are convincing the students on a daily basis to clean their classrooms and corridors and other parts of the school. We have no option but to engage the students in this activity,` ateacher accepted.

Videos of cleaning by boy and girl students had gone viral on the social media on social media and the district administration tried to hush the issue up by lodging aninquiry against the teachers of the schoolinquesdonratherthan ensuring cleanliness.

Commissioner Asif Iqbal was contacted and asked why the solid waste management company employees were not being used to ensure cleanliness inside the schools, he said the company employees could not perform inside the premises.

The teachers complained that the government officials were aware of the entire situation of missing facilities and unavailability of sweepers and guards at dozens of schools; however, nothing was being done to address the issues.