Elders oppose Literacy for All Programme closure

BANNU: The elders from the merged districts on Sunday threatened to boycott the anti-polio campaigns as a mark of protest against the likely winding up of the Literacy for All Programme.

The threat was made at a meeting of the elders from the merged districts at the Waziristan House here. Malik Niamatullah Khan, Malik Afsar Khan, Malik Raza Khan, Malik Zargul Khan, Malik Pirzada Wazir and others attended the meeting. The meeting was told that an official of the Literacy for All Programme had informed the elders that the government was going to discontinue the programme from June 30. The participants of the meeting expressed grave concern over the likely discontinuation of the programme, fearing it would deprive thousands of children of getting education. They said that the teachers serving under the literacy programme had also become overage and would become jobless if the project was closed. The meeting participants warned they would not get children vaccinated against polio and boycott the vaccination drives if the government went ahead with its plans.