BAHAWALPUR: The closure of `Literate Cholistan Project` launched by the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA), has closed all avenues of education for some 5,500 desert area children who were studying at 75 informal schools being run under the initiative.

The project was launched by the CDA in 2011 with the approval of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif during his last tenure for providing educational opportunities to Cholistani children.

By involving a non-government organisation and local community, as many as 75 primary schools were opened at different places in remote desert areas under the project. The community voluntarily provided open spaces, rooms and temporary shelters for running these informal schools.

At the time of project`s closure, as many as 5,500 boys and girls were being imparted primary education by over 150 male and female teachers at these schools.

On the recommendations of the then CDA officials, the services of educated boys and girls hailing from desert areas were hired as teachers against a nominal honorarium of Rs2,500 and Rs5,000 per month.

These schools functioned smoothly for three years and dur-ing the period CDA officials and the NGO concerned made hectic efforts to get them regularised and seek more funds to extend the project, but to no avail.

Seeing lack of government interest in extending the project, the community people also served notices to school staff, asking them to vacate the buildings and outhouses where the children were getting education.

In many cases, these schools hadtoberuninthe open andunder trees even in harsh summers and intense winter of the desert areas. At last, the teachers started to leave due to non-payment of their salaries for several months.

In another bid to get these schools revived, a number of Cholistanis, including Muhammad Aslam, Rustam Kuliar and nine-year-old Shamshad Bibi, a resident of 9/DRB village, led by the NGO head, Riaz Baloch, have appealed to the chief minister to intervene to save the future of desert area children by issuing funds for the purpose. They also sought regularisation of these schools and the services of affected teachers to bring them on a par with their colleagues.

The affected schoolchildren have also launched a campaign by dispatching letters to people from various walks of life to sensitise them on the issue.