Of the 145 government high schools monitored by Active Citizens Project (ACP) volunteers, 59 were found to be without playgrounds which are important for children’s development as they not only offer a place for physical activity but also serve as a platform for social interaction. Another 63 schools were without Physical Training Instructors (PTIs).

The ACP volunteers who visited 145 government high schools – 87 in Punjab, 32 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 26 in Sindh – during March and April 2012 — also found that 48 did not have libraries while 54 were without apparatus for conducting science experiments. Moreover, 49 schools lacked benches/chairs for students while 33 did not have them for teachers. Also, there were no staffrooms for teachers in 39 schools. However, 141 schools were located at addresses mentioned in the list of government schools and buildings of 140 were being used for running the school only.

As many as 138 schools were housed in buildings and 125 had boundary walls. Similarly, all but eight schools had electricity connections and classrooms of 130 schools had fans; classrooms of 127 schools were clean and those of 133 schools were well lit. As for the appointment of staff, 10% of the sanctioned teaching positions were unfilled. Among regions, the highest percentage of vacant teaching positions (20%) was observed in Sindh followed by KP (11%) and Punjab (8%).

On the other hand, 9% of the sanctioned non-teaching positions were unoccupied with the highest percentage of vacant positions in schools in Punjab (10%), followed by Sindh (8%) and KP (3%). As for the availability of certain non-teaching staff, 142 schools had peons, 103 had sanitary workers while 99 had the services of security guards. The attendance of teachers was better than that of students with 91% of the observed schools reporting it to be more than 75% while 80% schools had such high percentage of students’ attendance.

The student-teacher ratio was also satisfactory with an average of 29 students-per-teacher. The highest ratio of students-per-teacher (1:31) was observed in Sindh. Punjab and KP followed, each with a teacher student ratio of 1:29.