Ulema in Kohistan call for promotion of women’s education

MANSEHRA: Religious scholars have emphasised on all segments of society and the government to work for promotion of women’s education in Lower Kohistan where most of schools have been either destroyed or in a dilapidated condition.

“Islam gives an equal right of education to women but they are far behind in education as compared to men as most of their schools are closed in the district,” former MPA Maulana Dildar told a jirga organised by a local non-governmental organisation in Pattan area on Thursday.

People from different segments of society, including local government representatives and Ulema, attended the jirga.

The Maulana said that education monitoring system introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government had miserably failed to check large-scale discrepancies in the education sector in the district.

“Teachers, both males and females, are not regular on their duties and most of schools are closed as teachers are not coming there but receiving salaries regularly,” he added.

Dildar said that two colleges for boys were functional in Kohistan, which was bifurcated into three districts and there existed no college for girls so far.

Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Usman Ghani said that it was a misconception that Kohistanis were not sending girls to schools.

“Our people want quality education for their daughters and sisters but we have no such opportunities,” he maintained.

Former tehsil nazim Rasool Shah said that most of schools, particularly of girls, were either in dilapidated condition or destroyed and schoolchildren were receiving education in the open.

“The government is not sincere in imparting education to our children as most of schools are destroyed but the Education Department is not seriously taking any steps for their revival,” he added.

The jirga through a unanimous resolution demanded the government to reconstruct all girls’ schools in Kohistan.