BAJAUR: A government high school for girls in Barang tehsil here is yet to be made functional since its construction about 15 years ago, residents complained here on 25 August.
The school in the Sharbati area was approved in 2006 to promote girls’ education in the region. Its building was constructed in 2008, area elders and social activists told Dawn.
They said the unnecessary delay in making the school functional was causing them great concerns as it was the lone public sector high school for girls in about a dozen surrounding villages.
Taking to Dawn, Malik Rahmanuddin, an elder, said residents wanted to get their girls educated and hoped that the school would be made functional, but to no avail.
He said the unprecedented delay in making the school functional had disappointed the residents.
The residents said they had approached the officials of the education department multiple times, requesting them to make the institution functional, but they paid only lip service. They said the officials promised to make the school functional by the end of February by appointing the necessary staff, but to no avail.
The elders and social activists also slammed the local lawmakers for not playing their role in this regard. They demanded that the education minister to make the girls’ school functional without delay.
When contacted, a senior official of the education department confirmed to Dawn that the girls high school in Sharbati area of Barang had been lying non-functional since its establishment in 2008.
The official wishing not to be named said the school had been non-functional owing to lack of staff. However, he said SNE (sanctioned new expenditure) regarding the required staff of the school had been sent to the provincial education department about two years ago.
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024
