Roughly half of Pakistani Christian school children have no shoes a recent survey reveals

A recent survey portrays dismal situation of Pakistani Christian school children revealing that almost half of the Christian school children do not have basic facilities such as playgrounds, shoes, note books etc. The survey commissioned by an education charity, Starfish Asia, uncovered the fact that majority of Pakistani Christian children attend low-cost schools.

In compliance with the survey, majority of the Pakistani Christian school children do not have the facility of a playground. “About 15 percent of the students do not have notebooks, and a quarter of primary and middle schools lack useable drinking water.” It was further discovered that 13 percent of the schools surveyed lacked the basic facilities such as toilets for children, while about half of them did not have separate toilets for the staff.

Christian persecution watchdog World Watch Monitor reports that the survey was conducted with 604 schools, almost all of which were co-educational. “1 in 10 high schools had no blackboard in the classroom, and only 23 percent of high schools had access to the internet. Further, only about 5 percent of primary and middle schools had a library.” Gloomily, “45 percent of class 2 students had no footwear.”

“The Christian Schools Survey carries an urgency that cries out for the attention of educationalists, philanthropists and donor agencies, and gives insight into a deprived world that many Pakistanis, let alone other authorities, are unaware of,” said the survey report.

“While the government has failed to provide schools that welcome its citizens — and while the churches have often failed to provide schools that its people can afford — local entrepreneurs have had to fill the gap,” the report said.

It lauded “an army of men and women with initiative, drive and passion to do something for their own people.”

“We admire these courageous entrepreneurs,” the report went on to say. “Without qualified teachers, they have employed unqualified teachers. When they could not afford adequate facilities, they have used inadequate facilities. When they had no books, they taught without books. It is a community that is showing extraordinary courage and determination to build a future for their children.”