KHAAR (Bajaur Agency), Dec 24: Speakers at a seminar attributed the increasing child labour in the Bajaur tribal agency to lack of education facilities and employment opportunities. They were speaking at a one-day seminar on the “Lack of Education Facilities in the Tribal Areas and Government’s Responsibility”, organized by the Bajaur Development Organization, a local NGO.

The speakers said the agency was lacking in education facilities, and unemployment and growing poverty had given rise to child labour in the tribal areas.

They said the government made tall claims about provision of education facilities, but took no practical step to improve situation.

They said schools were approved and set up in the agency on the recommendation of influential people. This was evident from the fact that majority of the primary schools in different parts of the agency were being used by the Maliks and tribal elders as their private guest houses (Hujras), they said.

The tribal population, particularly the womenfolk, lagged behind in education, which resulted in low literacy rate in the Bajaur agency.

The speakers urged the government to announce a special package for the tribal agency to set up educational institutions.