Khyber Pakhtunkhwa students bear brunt of militant attacks on schools

http://centralasiaonline.com/

The Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have created an environment of fear, under which students are the most affected, observers say.

More than 700 schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been destroyed or damaged by militants during the past four years, putting thousands of children behind in their studies, according to KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department figures. An estimated 600,000 children are at least one year behind because of militancy in KP, "The State of Pakistan's Children-2011" reported, and hundreds more in Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar were deprived of getting an education when militants bombed the Government High School (GHS) for Boys in Matani June 6. "There is nothing left except debris," Alamzeb Khan, an official at the Matani police station, told Central Asia Online. "The explosions destroyed the school building completely." But Pakistani officials have been trying to respond quickly after such attacks. About 555 of the 750 schools that were damaged in Taliban attacks since 2010 have been rebuilt, according to the KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department. About 200 schools are under renovation or reconstruction now. Atmosphere of fear Still, the continued attacks in Matani are taking a toll on the psyche of the residents. "An atmosphere of total fear prevails in the area as many would not even tell us the name of the school's headmaster when we went there to investigate," Matani Chief Investigation Officer Riaz Khan said. "People in Matani villages don't even step out of their homes at night," he said. "Who would want to be slaughtered [by the Taliban]?" "A deepening sense of fear and torment prevails with students," Muhammad Iqbal, a teacher, said. "They ... live in a constant depressing situation." Bombings are a routine affair in Matani, and as a result, educational activities have been badly affected, he said.

Children are victimised

The militants have shown little regard for civilians and children as they continue their so-called war on education by attacking schools. Educational institutions have accounted for 13 per cent of recorded attacks throughout the war on terror, the Institute for Economics and Peace reported last December in its Global Terrorism Index. "There is not a single school in the Matani area that has not been attacked," Riaz said, noting that, if a room or two remained after a bombing, militants sometimes bomb it again. The GHS for boys in Mashu Khel, Matani, is an example. Terrorists bombed it in January and again one month later. "In the first attack, two rooms were destroyed, and the remaining four rooms that survived the first attack were destroyed in the second bombing," Riaz said. Militants want to traumatise children and weaken the writ of the government, former National Assembly member Bushra Gohar said. "They are creating confusion in society," the Awami National Party (ANP) leader said. "[They are] trying to push back our children to the Stone Age." How can students study and prepare to become successful professionals in such a situation? she asked. Pakistanis find ways to keep schools open Still, Pakistanis try to cope with the situation as best they can. Militants bombed the "first-class" Sherkira GHS in Matani – with 17 rooms, a science laboratory, a library and a playing field in March 2011, one of the school's teachers, Nasrullah, told Central Asia Online. Though the authorities restarted the classes immediately in a rented building, it has only eight classrooms and no laboratory or library. The makeshift quarters also lack sufficient desks and chairs. "But we bought floor mats so students could sit to take lessons," Nasrullah said.

Children are victimised

The continued attacks on schools have also caused problems for the government's development planners and construction companies. "We reconstruct a school one day, and a few days later they destroy another school somewhere else in the province," Waseemuddin, an official development planner, said. Such repetitive terrorism is creating a logistical nightmare and is imposing unexpected costs for the government, he said, but the country is determined to continue providing an education for the children.