Standing committee told number of ghost schools reduced in KP

PESHAWAR: The number of “ghost schools” has reduced during the last three years owing to the reforms introduced by the provincial government, a handout said on Tuesday.

A meeting of the standing committee on elementary and secondary education was told that a large number of government schools have been rehabilitated.The meeting was at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Abbottabad with Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Muhammad Arif in the chair, said an official handout.

MPAs Shah Hussain, Raja Faisal Zaman, Amna Sardar, Director Elementary and Secondary Education as well as officers of Hazara Division attended the meeting.The committee criticised the federal government for ignoring reconstruction of the schools damaged in the 2005 earthquake.

The participants of the meeting decided to approach the federal government for the rehabilitation of the damaged schools. However, the committee directed the officials concerned to ensure smooth running of the “ghost schools” that had been made functional.

The meeting was told that the provincial government was mulling over recruiting 15,445 teachers to overcome the shortage of staff in government schools.Until teachers were recruited on regular basis, the services of teachers on daily wages would be acquired, the committee was told. The committee urged the Education Department to take over the newly constructed school buildings and take steps to provide staff and other facilities.