KP takes back decision to close 14 FEF colleges

ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finally decided to reverse its decision of shutting down 14 semi-government girls’ colleges functioning under the Frontier Education Foundation (FEF) for the last several years.

Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak chaired a meeting the other day and took up the matter. “What’s your problem when we are providing funds for these schools?” a source privy to the meeting told The News, quoting the chief minister, when a senior FEF official tried to convince him for closure of these colleges, which impart education to about 1,800 students up to graduation level.

Parents and students of these colleges will definitely welcome the decision but many students might have missed the opportunity to get admission, as the last date of filing forms expired on August 15.

“Obviously, for the sake of future of students, we will request the provincial government to order extending the date of admission to at least September 15 to save precious time of the young generation,” said an administration official of one of FEF colleges, requesting anonymity. The decision taken earlier was feared to have forced hundreds of them to discontinue education.

A budgetary allocation of Rs 280 million was needed for this financial year, which forced the provincial government to arbitrarily close the chapter of these colleges. Tuition fee quite reasonable: Rs 600 per month, whereas Rs 5000 are charged for the whole year.

The decision had left many parents in a dilemma, as they feared, they would not be able to send their daughters to colleges in far-flung localities due to mainly financial and social reasons. These FEF colleges been established in the outskirts of Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Chakdarra, Kohat, Dabgari, Tangi, Topi, Sara e Norang etc.

The staff (271 teachers and as many non-teaching staffers) of these colleges had been asked to sign forms for their adjustment (on deputation) in other government departments and this would have led to another crisis.