Lack of funds: Construction of 100 primary schools halted in merged districts

KHAR: The ambitious plan to build six-room primary schools with six teachers each in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been stalled due to funding issues.

Approved by former chief minister Mahmood Khan, the project aimed to establish 100 new primary schools in the region.During the PTI government’s tenure, Rs2030.60 million were allocated for these schools, out of which Rs688.150 million have been spent so far.

However, the construction of several schools, which had already commenced, has now been left incomplete due to the lack of further funds. Sources indicate that the current government has also not released any funds for these schools, delaying their completion.

The approval for these schools was granted in 2020, with a completion deadline set for June 30, 2023. Nevertheless, due to the caretaker and current governments not releasing the necessary funds, work on these schools has come to a standstill.

According to the plan, these new schools will have six rooms each, with six teachers and one security guard. The initiative marked the beginning of six-room primary schools in the merged districts, where existing schools typically have only two rooms.

The distribution of the schools is as follows: 12 in Bajaur, 16 in Mohmand, 18 in Khyber, 16 in Kurram, 10 in North Waziristan, 14 in South Waziristan, 8 in Orakzai, 2 in subdivision Darra Adamkhel, 2 in subdivision Hassankhel, and 2 in subdivision Darazinda.

The construction of these schools would create 700 new job positions, with each school employing 1 head teacher (grade-15), 5 primary schoolteachers (grade-12), and 1 security guard (pay scale-3).