KHYBER: Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) handed over 28 government schools that were recently repaired to the education department in the Khyber tribal district while 43 others were nearing completion, officials said.
Addressing a ceremony in Bara on Monday, SRSP education campaigners Wakil Khan and Siyam Khan said that some of the militancy-affected and some old school buildings were repaired with the financial assistance of the Project for Commonwealth Development Office (PCDO).
They said that the education department had identified at least 24 schools for boys and girls for repair and rehabilitation in the Khyber tribal district under the project.
They said that those 24 schools were fully repaired in the first phase of the project and were handed over to the education department.
Officials say repair of 43 others damaged schools nearing completion
The speakers said that SRSP now started similar activity in its second phase with a target of repairing 95 partially damaged schools. They said that the repair of 43 of the total 95 schools was nearing completion while work on the remaining 52 schools was also underway.
“The main objective of this project is not only to rehabilitate school buildings but also to create a conducive atmosphere, which could attract a maximum number of out-of-school children to these schools,” said Wakil Khan.
He said that SRSP would also provide free bags to those students, who would secure good positions in examinations.
Former president of Sipah Khidmat-i-Khalq Committee Haji Sheikh Gul, village chairman Javed Afridi, social workers Turab Ali and Haji Ghilaf Khan thanked SRSP for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the damaged schools.
Officials of the education department said that the reconstructed and rehabilitated schools were identified on the basis of their existing conditions as some of those institutions were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s but no repair was conducted since then.
They hoped that with the completion of the second phase, students’ enrolment in Khyber would increase as the reconstructed schools were also provided with solar systems and bathroom facilities.
Earlier, the China Aid project had also announced the reconstruction of more than 50 fully damaged government schools in Bara.
Officials said that 51 of those militancy-affected schools were reconstructed and would be handed over to the education department in December.
They said that only two schools were still awaiting reconstruction as work was delayed due to land issues as the owners of the previous school building failed to provide the required land for its reconstruction.
Officials said that the Chinese government also pledged to provide furniture worth Rs2 million to primary schools, Rs3 million to middle schools, Rs6 million to high schools and Rs9 million to higher secondary schools in Bara.
Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024
