Education project benefitting tribal districts: Bureau report

PESHAWAR: Around 68,195 boys and girls access education in improved school and facilities under the "Support to Returnees and their Communities" project in four tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The project in Orakzai and North Waziristan, Kurram and Khyber, is funded by the European Union through UNDP and UNICEF and implemented by Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), said an official. He said the SRSP had renovated 250 governmentschools, established 53 pre-fabricated school structures, and installed 60 tents under the project. The schools have also been provided with wash facilities and teaching and student kits.

About 450 Taleem-i-Islahi Jirgas and 96 community organisations were organised to encourage community participation in local planning and development. About 1,000 men and women teachers were also trained in activity-based learning, he added.

He said that youth recreational activities were conducted and state-citizen dialogues were organised to debate issues faced by the returning communities. About 1,800 men and women were provided skill enhancement training courses, he added. "The role and support of director of education Fata Secretariat and district level is high commendable in the revival of education in the region," it added. The law-enforcement agencies also provided facilitation in the implementation of the project.