SIALKOT
Government Murray College Principal Javaid Akhtar has regretted that about 2,200 female students have been suffering residential problems for a long time, as they were forced to live on rented rooms which are unaffordable for most of them.
He told this to District Coordination Officer Iftikhar Ali Sahu who was visiting the college. The principal added that the female students belonging to the far-off areas of Sialkot district were forced to live in the local houses on rent for getting education at Murray College Sialkot, because they have no other option to reside in local rented places.
The principal urged the Punjab government to make Murray College Sialkot the centre of excellence besides granting it the degree awarding status. He said the college lacked classrooms as well. He added that there were only 8 classrooms for more than 5,000 students. He said that the Punjab government should also establish a campus of the college after giving it a university status. He said establishment of the college’s campus at a 200-acre government land available at village Ladhar near Sialkot.
“There was no furniture in these classrooms due to which the students and teachers suffered a great ordeal while getting education,” he added. Residing in rented houses is much costly and now has become unaffordable for the students as they have to bear Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 per month as extra expenditures, he said. The parents and families of the female students had urged Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to ensure early establishment of a girls’ hostel at the college.
Addressing the gathering, the DCO pledged that all the problems being faced by the students of Government Murray College Sialkot would be solved soon and to make it centre of excellence. He added that being an alma mater of Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the college had been a precious national asset. He also announced to recommend the Punjab government for the early establishment of a hostel for the girls students of the college.
he also visited the Govt College Women University and reviewed the construction work at a multipurpose hall, a library and an admin block. The Punjab government is spending Rs72 million on the construction. He directed the officials concerned to jazz up the pace of construction work, besides, ensuring the use of quality material in this construction.
Govt Murray College Sialkot had been established in British Regime in 1889. This college had been the alma mater of Allama Iqbal (the poet of the East) and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The college had never had any hostel for the girl students since its establishment. Murray College Sialkot had been waiting for any suitable hostel for its female students for the last 124 years.