PESHAWAR: Notwithstanding the severe shortage of teachers at government schools in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, six subject specialists have been teaching 12 students in a higher secondary school in a remote village of Kurram Agency.

The school was initially established in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of Kurram Agency, to cater to the education needs of local population.

However, it was shifted to Luqmankhel, 12 kilometers in the northwest towards the Afghan border, around eight years ago.

The school has been established in a two-room residential quarter adjacent to the high school building in Luqmankhel. The Directorate of Education Fata had posted six subject specialists and two lab assistants who are currently teaching 12 girls only. Initially, the number of students was 40 but the enrolment had dropped to 12 students.

A relevant official said neither lab nor science students were there and instead, lab assistants had been appointed there long ago. He said two rooms were used as classrooms as well as office.

The official said the girls, who could not get admission in the Degree College for Women, Parachinar, didn’t want to go to Luqmankhel for education due to its remote location. Traditionally, education and health care facilities are doled out to elders in tribal agencies by the political administrations to win their support.

Huge chunks of the annual development programme are often diverted to such schemes irrespective of the needs of the local residents.

Published in Dawn, November 16th , 2014