MANSEHRA: A government primary school in the Sohni area of Kaghan Valley has been reconstructed almost 19 years after its destruction by an earthquake.
During the opening ceremony on Friday, district education officer Sarfaraz Ahmad said the school building was resistant to earthquakes and could fulfil heating and other needs of students during the harsh weather conditions.
“This is one of hundreds of quake-hit schools and colleges in the province but the government’s funding led to its reconstruction,” he told participants, including parents, teachers and education officials.
The DEO said Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority left work on many educational institutions incomplete.
Sub-divisional education officer of Balakot Ghulam Jillani said the provincial government was allocating funds for the reconstruction of schools work on which wasn’t completed by Erra citing a shortage of funds.
Resident Hussain Deen said that the school’s destruction by the 2005 earthquake badly affected children’s education in the area.
“Our children attended classes in a small, muddy house for almost two decades, but now after the school’s reconstruction, their hardships are over,” he said.
He said the schoolchildren could comfortably attend classes even during harsh winters, as the newly-built classrooms could withstand extreme cold due to the installation of a modern heating system,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati on Friday praised journalists for fighting injustices in society.
“I extend gratitude to the journalists who are fulfilling their professional responsibilities by highlighting societal issues,” Mr Swati told a function organised by the Mansehra Press Club here to distribute Umrah tickets and laptops to its members.
The event was also attended by adviser to the chief minister on information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif and MPA Shaukat Yusufzai.
“Our [PTI’s] government in the province wants to see journalists equipped with professional knowledge and tools, so the information department has been directed to utilise all available resources for it,” Mr Swati said.
He said the media should remain impartial when disseminating information and news.
“The government uses the journalists’ work to formulate policies for people’s welfare and address injustices in society,” he said.
Barrister Saif said that the information department was being reformed to ensure a good working relationship between the government and media to serve people’s interests.
“We have provided grants to Mansehra and other press clubs for journalists welfare and capacity building,” he said.
The aide to the CM said the government was taking measures to provide journalists in the province with housing and professional training.
Mansehra Press Club president Shahzad Jehangiri and former TV Journalists Association president Nisar Khan Swati thanked the assembly’s speaker for approving a Rs5 million grant for Mansehra journalists.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024
