BAJAUR: Students of various government schools in the far-flung Arang and Barang areas on November 13 complained about the shortage of teachers and basic facilities in their institutions, saying the situation is adversely affecting their learning.
The students of Government Middle School for Boys Seri Sar Arang, Government Primary School for Boys Seri Sar, Government Primary School for Boys Nakhtar Targaoo Barang and Government Primary School for Boys Rag Majal Barang tehsil, have formally conveyed their complaints about the prolonged shortage of teachers and lack of basic facilities to a visiting team of district administration, according to residents.
On inquiry, students of Seri Sar Arang middle school told visitors that there had been no teachers for several weeks.
They said theirs was the lone public middle school for boys in the entire Seri Sar region, with scores of students enrolled.
The students said the school initially had around 10 teachers but all had left for unidentified reasons.
They said they repeatedly raised the issue with senior department officials through local elders, but to no avail. They sought the visitors’ intervention for corrective measures.
The residents also claimed that students of Government Primary School (both for boys and girls) Seri Sar also highlighted acute teacher shortage during the officials’ visit.
“The school has more than 300 students, with just one teacher taking classes for the last several months, so it is extremely difficult for him to manage such a large number of students,” elder Ikram Khan told Dawn.
He warned more students would drop out if the shortage of teaching staff wasn’t addressed immediately.
Villagers from Nakhtar Targaoo and Rag Majal Barang tehsil told Dawn that students of the Government Primary Schools for Boys in those areas had complained to administration officials about the longstanding shortage of teachers and lack of facilities.
Meanwhile, the district administration, in a statement, acknowledged the issues raised by students and said the government middle school for boys in Seri Sar Arang had been without teachers for many weeks.
It added that the Government Primary School Seri Sar, Government Primary School Targoo and Government Primary School Rag Majal were run by a single teacher each and lacked basic facilities,
The administration said the visiting team also found the primary school’s building in a “dangerous condition” as one of its portions had already collapsed several months ago.
It, however, promised early resolution of the issues impacting student learning after engaging the education department.
Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2025.
