Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Pakistan - Anything Over A School





The children of Pakistan struggle as it is to attain an education, without having the government evict them from the few schools that exist in non-urban parts of KPK. Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak has ordered the evacuation of a high school to establish a training centre for aircraft maintenance. He directed the Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department to vacate the building of Government Higher Secondary School, Pir Piai, in Nowshera district, and to put the building at the disposal of the Pakistan Air Force. The centre will put 165 schoolchildren out of school, with no other options of attaining an education, as there is no other government higher secondary school in a distance of 15 to 20 kilometres. A vocational training centre can be built anywhere; the school did not have to be its casualty.
The move has triggered anxiety and uncertainty among the students of the school and their parents who could not afford education in private schools. The parents have been approaching the officials going as far as saying that they were ready to provide free of cost land for constructing a building for the training. The children of these conflict-ridden areas are already suffering due to the security situation, and instead of providing innovative solutions to ensure each child attends school, the government is taking away the little opportunities they have.
To attain an education is an inherent right of every child, yet it is unfortunate that the government prioritises everything else over it. The students of Government Boys High School Rukanpur have been forced to hold classes under the open sky as their school building has been demolished for a road project. The PML-N decided to demolish the building to build a motorway. The school had two portions, one for high school classes and other for the elementary classes on total 51 kanals of land, educating 200 children, that now have no other alternatives.

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