Elders demand girls school in Upper Dir village upgraded

PESHAWAR: The upgradation of Government Girls Middle School, Barikot in Kohistan, Upper Dir, has exposed the claims of the previous and incumbent government and authorities of the Education Department that how much they were interested in promoting girls education particularly in the far-flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government established this school in 2004 and the parents had enrolled their daughters despite the shortage of female teachers and lack of basic necessities.

The female teachers were reluctant to come daily from far-flung areas as the government could not arrange accommodation for them, but the elders said they overcame the problem.

A community elder, Malik Abdur Rashid, recalled that the number of girls students in the school increased from 2004 till 2015 but the flood badly damaged it in 2010.

He said the tribe later provided an alternate place for the school and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government also provided them the staff.

Since the Government Girls High school, Sheringal, is 38 kilometre away and the parents could not afford to pay Rs240 per day as transport fee, they did not send their daughters to school.

Such parents, he said, enrolled their daughters in seminaries after qualifying middle examination.

Flanked by Ghulam Rasul, Dr Bahadar Syed and Malik Mohammad Nageen, Malik Abdur Rashid observed that the seminaries did not have the capacity to accommodate all students so the ones from the nearby villages abandoned education.

Ghulam Rasul and Dr Bahadar Syed pointed out that many parents, who could afford, enrolled their daughters in private schools but the private schools also lacked facilities.

They recalled that Jamaat-e-Islami former MPA Mohammad Ali, whose party was a coalition partner in the previous government, promised to upgrade the middle school if someone provided land.

Malik Mohammad Amin recalled that Malik Azam Shah of Barikot offered land near the main bazaar but nothing was done even after the passage of three years.

“This is very strange. If the government has no funds or may be it cannot make arrangements for the education of the girls after qualifying middle classes,” he added.

Malik Abdur Rashid suggested that the government could start 9th and 10th classes in the existing Government Girls Middle School building.

Malik Azam Shah, who donated land for the school, said he had offered land for school and his sons should be appointed in accordance with the government’s policy.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Bacha Saleh pointed out that Sheringal was separate tehsil and the Girls High School was meant for Sheringal while Barikot was located in Kalkot tehsil.

He said if the government established or upgraded the Barikot school, it would benefit the students of various villages including Beeyar, Patrak, Kalkot and Tal.

The government should start temporary classes for 9th and 10th graders in the existing building if the government facedshortage of funds, he added.

He said that he and the local people would arrange teachers on self-help basis for the girl students.