PESHAWAR: Contrary to its claim about increasing literacy rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government directed the management of Benevolent Fund School, Kohat Road, to avoid new admissions as the school might be shut.

The students, their parents and teachers of Benevolent Fund School held a demonstration outside Peshawar Press Club on Monday to protest the decision of the government.

Carrying banners and placards, the protesters chanted slogans against the government and asked it to fulfil its promise about promotion of education in the province.

They said that new admissions in the school had been stopped since 2010 and its college portion had also been closed while its girls section was shut in 2011. Several employees, they said, were sacked and now new admissions had also been stopped in the boys section of the school.

The teachers of the school said that government didn’t award them proper service structure and salaries were also not paid to them timely. During the last few years, they said, teachers and other employees suffered badly owing to usual delay in payment of their salaries.

They demanded reinstatement of sacked employees, restoration of transport facility, lifting of ban on the new admissions and payment of the additional salaries to them that had been pending since 2009.

The protesters threatened to start attending classes on the main road outside the press club and then set themselves on fire outside provincial assembly building if government did not accept their demands.

The principal of the school, Syed Abu Zaffar, when contacted, confirmed that Benevolent Fund secretary directed him to avoid new admissions. The three vans meant for transportation of staff and students were parked in the Benevolent Fund Building and the drivers were terminated.

He said that at least 400 students would be deprived of education if the school was closed.

The building, Mr Zaffar said, had 50 rooms and local people wanted to admit their children there but some officials were bent upon closing the institution to use the spacious building for some other purposes.

Baz Mohammad Khan, a representative of the parents, said that the school was close to a vast population and the enrolment could increase manifold if new admissions were allowed. He demanded of Imran Khan to take notice of the issue.

“We will continue protest if our demands are not met,” he said.