Students study under open sky in Hangu

HANGU: The students of a state-run school in Drand Sheikhan village have no other option but to acquire education under the open sky as its building destroyed 10 years back hasn’t been rebuilt.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has been claiming that its reforms in the education sector have improved the situation. However, a visit by the local journalists to the Government Primary School in Drand Sheikhan exposed the indifference of the provincial government to the school’s plight.

The school was blown up by militants during the era of militancy 10 years ago. The building is in a dilapidated condition with no electricity and other necessary facilities.

Talking to reporters, the local elders including Abdul Wahab, Sajjad Ali, Iftikhar Ali, Murad Ali, Abdul Ghani and Shah Muhammad said the school staff and children were facing a host of problems in summer and winter due to the absence of roof and boundary walls. The elders said that the internally displaced persons returned to the village in 2015, but the education department authorities did not bother to pay attention to the repair of the school despite their repeated reminders. They complained that the elected representatives were also not interested in getting the school repaired. They said that the children were taking interest in receiving education by covering some distance to reach the school in time despite a lack of facilities. The elders asked the provincial minister for education and director education to look into the matter and take early steps for the repair of the damaged school. “We have to close the school during rains. There is no proper arrangement to provide shelter to the children,” a teacher said while pleading anonymity.