TIMERGARA: Provincial finance minister Muzaffar Syed said on Saturday that the government would provide a secure environment to students of educational institutions.

Addressing the prize distribution ceremony of the annual sports’ competitions among the government middle schools of Lower Dir at Sher Khani, Maidan, the minister said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had increased budget for providing quality education to the students of public sector schools.

The function was also addressed by district education officer Hafiz Mohammad Ibrahim, former DEO Abdul Rahman, district games’ secretary Sahibzada Sadiq Jan, former general secretary of All Teachers Association, Lower Dir, Rozamin Khan and others.

A large number of students, teachers, headmasters and political activists attended the ceremony.

The minister and the DEO distributed trophies, certificates and cash prizes among the winner and runner-up teams of the tournament.

Mr Syed said that the students and youth were future of the nation.

He said that the APS Peshawar incident had shocked the entire country, but it would not discourage the students to get knowledge.

He said that the government was committed to providing employment, education and health facilities to people of the province. He said that it was the responsibility of the government to create a peaceful environment for students to get proper education.

The minister announced construction of volleyball and basketball courts in the government middle school, Sher Khani, Rs50,000 for tournament committee and elevation of the middle school, Sher Khani, to high level.

A total of 81 government middle schools of the district took part in the tournament.

Hafiz Ibrahim appreciated the management of government middle schools for holding the sports’ festival in a sensitive area like Maidan. The students of different schools presented songs, speeches and national anthem on the occasion.

The participants also prayed for the victims of APS Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2014