TAXILA: The local administration and education department have failed to retrieve 10 kanals of Government Girls Elementary School Marri in tehsil Jand of Attock from the encroachment mafia.
According to reports, the school was originally established on 15 kanals, but due to encroachment by influential individuals, its area has now shrunk to around five kanals. Although the local court issued a verdict in June 2024, supporting the school administration’s claim to the occupied land, the concerned authorities have failed to implement the decision and reclaim the encroached property.
According to local sources, the school was allocated 15 kanals for future expansion, sports facilities, and additional classrooms, but illegal occupation has reduced its usable area to less than a quarter of the original size. The encroachment has not only obstructed the school’s development plans but has also deprived students of basic learning and recreational facilities.
The sources in the education department revealed that the school which comprises 10 classrooms with moderate strength of over 372 students was upgraded to high school in academic year 2018-19 providing better education facilities to the female students of the backward area where parents restrict their adult girls to their homes due social and cultural taboos.
But as the school did have 10 kanals, which is mandatory for a high school, the education authorities have reverted it to the middle level, depriving hundreds of female students of their right to acquire secondary school education. The sources said that if the school gets its encroached land, it would be upgraded to the higher secondary level.
Parents and students expressed deep frustration over the situation, saying that the lack of space has severely affected the learning environment and halted plans for school expansion.
“Our classrooms are overcrowded, and there is no open space left for playgrounds or extracurricular activities,” said a student Fatima Bibi.
Another student Gul Noreen added, “We were promised new classrooms and sports facilities, but the land dispute has stopped all development.”
Parents echoed similar sentiments, blaming the local administration, education and revenue departments for negligence. “It’s disappointing that over one year has passed since the court has issued a verdict in favour of the education department that the concerned authorities have not acted to restore the school’s land,” said one parent, Sarwar Ali. “Our daughters are being deprived of quality education and basic facilities due to administrative indifference.”
Residents also urged the newly formed Punjab Encroachment Removal Authority (PERA) Force to act decisively against powerful land grabbers instead of targeting small kiosks and poor shopkeepers from the last few weeks in the Jand city but ignore influential and powerful encroachment mafia. “If PERA is serious about rule of law, it should focus on recovering public land from influential mafias, not dismantling sheds of low-income vendors,” a local elder remarked.
When contacted, deputy district officer education Ms Kubra confirmed that around 10 kanals donated for school is under illegal occupation and some houses are constructed over it. She said that the education department has issued various vacation notices to the occupants but they have refused to vacate the land.
Responding to a question, she said that the post-middle education is the need of the time for the area’s female students and this school plays a positive role in increasing the literacy rate of the womenfolk. She said that the education department joined hands with the local administration to accelerate the efforts to get rid out the encroachers and restore the school to a high level.
Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2025.
