Bara elders demand rebuilding of schools

BARA: The tribal elders here have asked the government to rebuild the schools destroyed by militants as the shattered structures had put at stake the future of thousands of children. They said that schools for boys and girls had been destroyed and thousands of students deprived of education for the last two years.

"When the internally displaced persons of the Sipah tribe returned to native area two years ago, they found the educational and health facilities destroyed there," stated an elder, Malik Haleem Gul Afridi, while talking to The News. He added that the future of the tribal children was at stake. "At least 50 percent children have left the government schools and got admitted in private schools and 30 percent poor students abandoned education," he added. He said thousands of children had been attending classes in the open inside the destroyed schools for the last two years in Sipah area. "Students study in the open grounds and this was, by no account, a safe environment," he added.

Malik Haleem maintained that there was no middle and high school in Sipah area for girls. The children discontinued education after finishing the fifth grade. He said the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), was reconstructing government schools in Sipah area.

The tribesman said he could offer 800 kanals land free of cost for establishment of a cadet college or medical college in Sipah. "We have raised the issue with Inspector General Frontier Corps and other officials for a cadet college or medical college," he added.

Muhammad Usman, another tribesman, said the federal government received huge funds from foreign donors for reconstructing destroyed educational institutions in Fata, but it did not rebuild the structures.

He alleged that the Fata funds, provided by foreign donors, were not being utilised for rebuilding the Fata schools and health facilities. "The government has not even provided mats, chairs, tables and books to the schools in Sipah so far," he claimed.