PESHAWAR: Only 118 schools in the provincial capital have been issued no-objection certificate (NOC) to reopen after taking adequate security measures, a source told The News. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had said that only those educational institutions would be allowed to function that obtained NOC after adopting adequate measures for the security of children and staff. Chief Minister Parvez Khattak directed the authorities to close down the schools failing to deploy security guards and taking other measures for countering any attack.Most of the private schools had protested the decision, arguing that they couldn’t afford to make the security arrangements on their own. The government too failed to adopt the required security measures for the public sector schools.“Only 118 schools all over Peshawar have been issued NOCs,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Peshawar, Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad told The News. Special committees have been constituted at the sub-divisional level to inspect the private and public schools in their area to find out if the school management had arranged proper security. The committees include the concerned sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), an officer of the district administration and a representative of the Education Department. “There are over 3,200 schools in the provincial capital out of which over 2,000 have been inspected,” the SSP Operations added.The majority of the educational institutions have failed to adopt the required security measures as directed by the federal and provincial governments to thwart any December 16-like attack. In many areas in Peshawar and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the school principals have armed the peons, gardeners and drivers to ‘fulfill’ the requirement of deploying guards.The government had ordered that at least three guards should be deployed in every school while another two would guard the school bus. The fact is that there are dozens of public sector schools in different parts of the province that are without boundary walls.The government has allowed the teachers, including females, to carry guns as part of the heightened security for the schools and children, arguing that it cannot deploy police guards at every school. Many pictures on the social media recently showed teachers of colleges and universities coming with automatic rifles after being allowed by the government to carry guns.The government and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police are already under criticism for passing a security-related law from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The law says those failing to secure their buildings, offices, schools, trade centres and other places would be arrested and jailed for one year.Many criticise the government for absolving itself of the responsibility to protect the people. They say the government is supposed to provide security to the people. The All Private Schools Association the other day accused the police of insulting the school principals for ‘inadequate security’ at their institutions.
