South Waziristan starts internet facility for students

WANA: Students in South Waziristan tribal district have been provided the internet facility for the first time, officials and locals said.

While there is no Internet facility in other merged districts so far, district administration and Frontier Corps (FC)-South have set up Internet cafes at several places in South Waziristan so that students can attend their online classes and surf the Internet for free.

Ghulam Abdul Qadir, a resident of Chagmalai area in South Waziristan, said that the lockdown for coronavirus had affected their studies as universities have closed throughout the country. “It is good now that while sitting in Waziristan region, we are able to do our studies online, for which we are thankful to the government,” said Abdul Qadir, a student the Punjab University.Another student, Muhammad Haris, said that he had got fed up with the lockdown in home but now he could come to the Internet cafes set up by the district administration in Wana where he studies online and surfs the Internet. A local elder, Malik Kalam, said that they were glad to see his children attend the online class and surf the Internet in Wana. “This is the first step, hopefully, the Internet speed will improve further,” he added. Another elder, Khial Muhammad Wazir thanked the authorities and said that his son used to go out of Wana for the Internet facility but now at least he could use it in the area. Deputy Commissioner Hameedullah Khan said that initially the administration has set up three Internet cafes in Wana, Chagmalai and Mula Khan Serae, with seating arrangements for 150 students at a time. “Hopefully, we may set up more Internet facilities for students to accommodate more students by setting up Internet cafes in other areas where we have enough strength of students to demand it,” he added.