All KP educational institutions cannot be protected by govt: minister

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Thursday said that the provincial government was not in a position to provide foolproof security to all the public and private educational institutions owing to lack of police strength.
Speaking at a seminar here at the Peshawar Press Club, he said that the total police strength was 65,000 while the number of educational institutions across the province was about 50,000, making it difficult for the government to provide security to each and every institution.
He said the provincial government had allowed teachers of higher educational institutions to carry licensed firearms for personal protection.The minister said that the provincial government was making efforts to enroll 0.7 million children at government schools and hoped that this year they would get 0.3 million children enrolled in the province.
Ghani said the KP government had released Rs2.5 billion for purchase of furniture and other necessary equipments for government schools.The minister said the government had released one billion rupees out of a total of seven billion for construction and mounting of boundary walls at all government-owned educational institutions.
Speaking on the occasion, the Director of Mishal Pakistan, Puruesh Chaudhary, said that the Right to Information Act passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in 2013 had further strengthened the constitutional rights of the people, empowering them to hold government officials accountable. She said education was the key to establishing peace and rule of law in society.