Nokkundi is a small town in District Chaghi, considered to be the ‘Land of Resources’. Consisting of about 18,000 people, the city is deprived of every fundamental amenity of life. Shortage of water, inadequate medical support to the natives, and unemployment are a few to be named. However, one of the most worrisome situations that prevail in the city is a negligible number of educational institutes and the ramshackle infrastructure of those that exist.
Government High School Hassan Abad is one of the unfortunate schools that have no proper space for students. Having only four rooms with broken walls and roofs, the students are compelled to sit either on the ground in the ruined classes or in the shadow of a nearby mosque. In all seasons, students bear the difficulties of blazing summers and dry cold winters. This has continued for the past several years, as no one from the concerned authorities ever visited the aforementioned school.
More than a year ago, a contract for additional rooms was tendered, but it all went in vain. Despite the exceeded duration of the work, rooms are still not fully furnished and have broken again in their under-construction phase due to the usage of low quality raw material. Since then, neither the contractor nor the authorities have ever bothered to see the school and to put pressure on completion of the project on a priority basis.
The current Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani also hails from the same city. It is quite unfortunate that he has not been playing a role in the development of his city. In addition, the managing director of the Saindak Gold Project is a native of Nokkundi, and younger brother of the Senate chairman – he too, has not provided any aid even under their Corporate Social Responsibility fund to furnish these kinds of schools. The rich resources of the Saindak Gold Project, Rekodiq (the world’s fifth-largest copper project), and hundreds of marble mines are insufficient to improve the schooling in their environs.
The resource-rich district has only one degree college present in the headquarters, Dalbandin. Most of the students from other tehsils have no access to higher education after their intermediate. Meanwhile, due to the worsening unemployment and backwardness of the masses, it is hard to afford the educational expenses of their children in Quetta, the only city in the province with some proper education facilities. This has eventually resulted in the lowest literacy rate for the poor city.
The member of the Provincial Assembly from the district is Arif Hassni, who has seldom been seen visiting his own district after winning elections. He is currently minister of construction and works, yet his contribution to the infrastructural growth of his own district is insignificant.
The locals have time and again urged Sadiq Sanjrani, MD Saindak Gold Project, and the MPA for the establishment of new schools and colleges along with the refinement of the surviving institutes, so that the city may improve in the field of education.
