St Solomon’s School Ahmedabad and La Salle Girls’ High Gokhuwal in Pakistan send messages of thanks.
The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” couldn’t be more accurate when applied to education and even more so to the enormous task of building projects within schools.
The process of building new infrastructure and upgrading existing structures at each of the schools began in November 2022 when proposals were received from La Salle Girls’ High School in Gokhuwal (a poor suburb on the outskirts of Faisalabad) and St Solomon’s School in Ahmedabad (a poor suburb on the outskirts of Multan).
La Salle Girls High School, Gokhuwal new building
The implementation of each project began in April 2023 and the facilities constructed during the first phase of construction are now being used by teachers and students as the new Pakistani academic year begins.
St Solomon’s in Ahmedabad requested funding to improve facilities to cater for a growing number of female students attending the school in their senior years. The project involved the construction of three new classrooms for girls, a multi-purpose hall, administration and and account offices, a new computer laboratory and two toilet areas with clean water drinking stations. Further funding was granted to enable the purchase of equipment for offices and furniture for the staff room.
St Solomon’s new building
In Gokhuwal, the school site had expanded through the purchase of small blocks of land. The first task was to construct a four-metre security wall around the perimeter of the property. After new toilet facilities were constructed, the major project began. Eight new classrooms were built to allow for the increase in student population amongst girls in the middle to senior grades. The staff room received new furniture and improved facilities.
The new facilities at each school joined onto an existing classroom block, and in both cases, the façade of the existing building was modified so the resulting school building was harmonised in appearance.
Building in Pakistan is a challenging task, and both projects dealt with significant weather delays, material shortages, bureaucratic slowness and an annual inflation rate of 30%.
The two infrastructure projects were made possible by a substantial donation from the O’Brien Foundation Australia, donations from St Michael’s College (Adelaide) and De La Salle College (Malvern) for the Gokhuwal project, and donations from St Bede’s College (Mentone) for the St Solomon’s project. The two schools now have new and improved facilities which will enable each to increase its enrolment, particularly of poor students from the school’s neighbourhood, and provide an opportunity for girls to receive a secondary school education.
The Lasallian Foundation, the La Salle Brothers in Pakistan, the Principals, teachers and students at La Salle Girls’ High School and St Solomon’s School are most grateful for the financial support received from the O’Brien Foundation Australia and Lasallian schools and are proud that the new facilities will make a great difference to the education available to needy children in Pakistan.
