Waziristan MPA seeks internet for students to take online classes

PESHAWAR Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly member from North Waziristan Mir Kalam Wazir on Thursday wrote a letter to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the provision of Internet facilities to students in his constituency for facilitating them to take online classes.

The HEC has directed universities to shift to online learning after the closure of universities in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. The universities have closed its campuses for face-to-face classes but online learning has been initiated under the HEC directives. However, students in the erstwhile Fata could not avail themselves of the opportunity due to the suspension of Internet facilities for the last several years. Mir Kalam Wazir, a lawmaker from tribal North Waziristan district, in a letter to the HEC chairman appreciated the online learning initiative in the wake of COVID-19. “The HEC/government’s initiative of starting online classes for university students across the country is highly appreciable. However, a large number of university students from North Waziristan may not be able to avail [themselves of] this opportunity due to the non-availability of network/Internet facilities in most of the areas of the district,” the letter stated. The communication added that the people of North Waziristan had suffered for the last two decades, saying the students were still suffering for lack of higher education institutions, mobile and Internet networks. Mir Kalam Wazir requested the HEC to take necessary steps for ensuring the availability of the Internet in North Waziristan so that students were not deprived of the rights to education.