June 20, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427

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SWABI, June 19: About 640 of the 720 so-called ghost schools in NWFP have been reopened, while opening of the remaining 80 schools was in the process, Dawn learnt on Monday. Sources in the education department said that these schools were located in areas of influential people. After the discovery of such schools, a policy was adopted to reopen them.

The sources citing the example of a primary school in Peshawar said that the school remained without staff for 14-years and it existed in papers only.

The government, the sources, said had also spent Rs 60 million to collect data why some parents were not sending their children to schools, identify the causes of dropouts and other reasons.

The survey, the sources, was carried out in three million houses in different parts of the province. The survey helped the government to make a five-year plan for education and the provincial education directorate had already started working on this project.