Every morning, parents send their children to school with ordinary hopes: that they will learn something, make friends, and return home safely. They should never have to wonder whether the classroom roof will hold.
The collapse at Al-Khair School System in Peshawar on 15 October 2026 has left families facing an unbearable loss. According to Jang’s updated report that day, 35 people, including 34 children and a female teacher, were killed, while more than 40 others were injured. The immediate concern must be the injured and the affected families. Rescue workers, medical teams, and neighbors who rushed to help deserve our gratitude.
But once the rescue operation ends, difficult questions remain. How safe was the building? Who was responsible for checking it? Were there warnings, and did anyone act on them?
We have reasons to ask these questions beyond Peshawar. In March 2019, a school wall collapsed in Gujranwala, killing five children and a female teacher. A month earlier, a roof collapse at a government school in Aroop had killed a teacher and injured the principal. In February 2022, classroom roofs collapsed at a private college on Chichawatni Road, injuring six female students and two laborers.
This year brought further tragedies. Four children died in a school roof collapse in Dera Ghazi Khan in May. Preliminary findings linked the collapse to construction materials placed on the roof. In June, 14 children died when a tuition-center roof collapsed in Lahore’s Kahna area. Two days later, another school building collapsed in Baghbanpura, killing an eight-year-old student.
Each incident has its own circumstances and deserves proper investigation. Together, however, they give us ample reason to examine how educational buildings are approved and monitored.
School owners and management carry a direct responsibility for the safety of their students and staff. They must maintain buildings, respond to signs of damage and ensure that construction work does not endanger occupied classrooms. Operating from rented premises cannot excuse ignoring an unsafe roof or a damaged wall. The responsibilities of landlords, contractors and engineers must also be examined.
The same scrutiny should extend to public authorities. Departments that register institutions, approve building use, issue fitness certificates or conduct inspections exercise considerable authority. That authority must also be responsible for the quality of its decisions and for following up when danger is reported.
An inquiry should establish whether the institution was registered at the correct address, whether the premises were approved for educational use, and whether it had a valid structural fitness certificate. If a certificate was issued, who inspected the building, and what did the inspection cover? Were additional floors or other alterations made afterward?
If no valid approval existed, authorities must explain how the institution continued operating. If authorities granted approval without adequate checks, they must investigate those decisions.
We should be equally careful about fairness. A collapse does not automatically prove that every official connected with a school was negligent. Responsibility must follow the evidence. Those who ignored warnings, falsely certified a building, or permitted dangerous work should face appropriate action through due process. An arrest or an officer’s transfer cannot replace a completed investigation.
Pakistan already has a School Safety Framework and institutions responsible for regulating education. The practical task is to make safety checks dependable and ensure that identified problems are corrected.
Provincial governments should begin with inspections of the buildings at greatest risk, including government schools, colleges, tuition centers and student hostels. Visible damage, added floors, ongoing construction and earlier complaints should bring an institution to the front of the queue. Qualified engineers should determine whether premises are safe to occupy, require repairs or must be vacated.
Fitness certificates should clearly identify the building, inspection date, inspecting professional, and any conditions requiring attention. Major alterations or significant damage should require reassessment. Independent checks on certificates would help establish whether the process is working.
Parents and teachers should also have a simple way to check an institution’s registration and safety status and report concerns without fear of retaliation. Their complaints need a clear response deadline. They can draw attention to danger; they cannot be expected to judge structural safety themselves.
Enforcement must be supported by funding and practical help. Unsafe public schools need repair budgets. Affordable private institutions may need technical assistance to meet safety requirements. Where a building must close, authorities should help arrange safe temporary classrooms so that children can continue learning.
Schools also need clear exits, evacuation practice and arrangements for children and staff with disabilities. Bereaved families and survivors will require support long after the headlines disappear, including rehabilitation, psychological care and help returning to education.
The Peshawar investigation should have a clear timetable, public findings, and follow-up on every corrective action. Parents deserve to know what failed and what will change. When they send their children back to school, they should have something more dependable than another assurance that the matter has been taken seriously.
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Muhammad Anwar is Founder and CEO of Freedom Gate Prosperity, with over three decades of experience in democratic governance, civic education, and development.
