Admission in the downtown government’s educational institutions of the federal capital has always been a nerve-wracking trial for parents especially when their children are compelled to join the institution in the evening shift.
This year too, poor and middle class families were compelled to enroll their children in the evening shifts of the model colleges as morning shift institutions (both FG and Model) denied new admissions in first shift on the pretext of overcrowding in the classrooms.
Those parents who were asked to admit their children in evening shift with an assurance of adjustment in morning after the summer vacation can be seen visiting principal’s office in various institutions to request altering the shift but getting zero response.
According to an official source, the core motive behind running evening shifts is to get multiple salaries ignoring the problems of parents and their kids. On the other hand, the parents are facing a plethora of issues and are worried over unnatural and unhealthy learning of their wards in the evening shift.
Professor Nadeem, a psychologist said, “Students of evening shift schools do not perform brilliantly due to change in their sleep cycles which affect the hormones that regulates sleep. Changes in sleep habits have a significant effect on academic performance of students by reducing concentration and attention deficits in the classroom”.
Moreover, it is very difficult for evening shift students to participate in social activities and have enough time to study, complete homework timely and go to bed at a reasonable time.
He said that a two-shifts system is maintained due to natural disasters affecting the physical conditions of the school building, but is not recommended under normal circumstances.
Some teachers teaching in the evening shift have concerns that the students particularly weak ones are not receiving the same education as compared with morning shift students.
Students have less time to complete tasks in the evening shift due to time shortage and their education may also suffer as a result of their sleepiness and tiredness in the odd hours of evening.
Similarly, the students in the evening shift are not engaged in the extracurricular activities which are essential for their healthy routine.
An Associate Professor of a college on the condition of anonymity said, “Unfortunately there is a chain of officers and employees in the federal education department who do not want to abolish evening shift despite the fact that schools have extra space to accommodate evening shift students.
Director and Principal draw 75pc extra salary in the name of evening shift-duty in addition to their regular monthly salary; particularly the director draws multiple salaries, that is, 75pc of the pay being Director and Principal of evening shift in addition to his regular salary.
In addition to director and principals, the supporting staff in the evening shift are also earning with the both the hands. It is pertinent to mention here that the working hours of both the shifts are almost equivalent to those of other government departments and ministries where employees draw single salary.
He further said, “When Barrister Usman Ibrahim Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division ordered to abolish the evening shift in the 2014, only two F.G colleges abolished the evening shift following the orders of minister but model colleges did not follow the orders of the minister on one pretext or the other, continued to run evening shifts.”
An accountant of a college said, “Budget and funds under different heads are massively misappropriated in the name of evening shift which could better be used for the welfare of poor students.”
Quoting an example, the accountant said that an officer is holding four important positions simultaneously. He is Director Model Colleges, Director F.G colleges, Area Education Officer and Principal of a college at the same time.
“There is huge shadow cost like reimbursement of medical bills being heart patient, using official vehicle despite drawing conveyance allowance. These perks contribute to the overall cost of the officer working for the department. I am surprised that a patient has been given multiple assignments by the authorities whose real cost is multiple times high as compared to his productivity. I can truly say that evening shift, in fact, for some officers is a goose that lays the golden eggs”, he said.
Jamsheed , a father of two said, “Parents who have strong relations with influential officers at FDE or ministries can get their children enrolled in the morning shift without any merit.
While on the other hand, parents like me are facing various issues whose children are studying in both the shifts.
“It is very difficult to manage my own schedule and the schedule of my children simultaneously. I have to make adjustments in the timings of pick and drop of my children. Consequently I do not get enough sleep”, he lamented.
Teachers believe that evening shift teaching is a disservice to the students who may be disturbed by such unnatural way of learning. They recommend that the schools should be run in the morning shift, with a limit imposed on the maximum number of students based on the capacity of school building.
