PESHAWAR: With pall of gloom enveloping the atmosphere, the Army Public School and College, Peshawar was reopened on Monday after 26 days of the brutal incident, which had left the entire country in shock.

The students, including those who had received injuries in the attack on the school by militants on Dec 16, 2014, resumed educational activities with strong commitment to get education at any cost.

The educational institutions in rest of the province were also reopened with thin attendance of students.

The atmosphere in APS was gloomy as many parents were missing their lost children. Some of them came to the school with their surviving children. Though the students’ morale was high and most of them wished to become soldiers, yet their eyes were teary when they were sharing the memories of their killed classmates.

Few students were seen with having bandage on their arms as they were injured in the attack. “Today is a prayer day for the martyred and wounded students,” a student told this scribe outside APS. The students had come to the school along their parents, he said.

Dr Faridullah, whose three children are enrolled in APS, told journalists that parents should not stop their children from getting education owing to fear of militants. “If all of my children embrace martyrdom for the sake of education even then I will ask the people to get their children educated,” he said.

Shahzeb Khan, a student of sixth grade, said that he was not afraid when militants attacked the school. Standing alongside his father, he said that he was still not afraid of anyone to be in the school.

Another student of grade 12 said that it was his great desire to join army and fight against the enemies of the country. “I miss all my lost friends, who played with me for several years,” he said.

“Today when I was coming to the school in our bus, the seat of my brother was vacant. I miss him very much,” said a student, whose brother was killed in the attack. He said that places like school, playgrounds and streets where he had played with his brother reminded him his brother.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Pakhtun Youth Organisation led by former MNA Jamila Gilani and Sana Ijaz visited APS and garlanded the students and handed them over flowers.

Talking to Dawn, Sana Ijaz said that morale of girl students was very high when they were talking to them.

The district administration has warned the educational institutions of cancelling their registration if security guidelines are not followed properly. However, the administration is yet to take action against those educational institutions, which are not following the security guidelines.

“The visiting teams formed by me have issued security instructions to those schools which have not implemented the security guidelines so far,” Deputy Commissioner Zahirul Islam told Dawn.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak also visited various educational institutions in Peshawar to review security arrangements. Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Atif and Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani and civil and security officials accompanied him.

Our Correspondent form Ghalanai adds: The government and private educational institutions were reopened on Monday in Mohmand tribal region amid tight security.

Officials asked the tribal elders and school owners to ensure protection of educational institutions.

In this connection, a jirga of Gandow, Kamali Haleemzai and Safi tribal elders was held the other day. The jirga was attended by Assistant Political Agent Zeeshan Abdullah, Tehsildar Mehmood Shah, Tehsildar Miraj Khan and elders of Kadikhel, Hamzakhel, Wali Baig, Kamali Haleemzai, Qandhrai, Masood, Gurbuz and Shinwari tribes.

Addressing the jirga Mr Abdullah urged the tribesmen to protect hospitals, schools and other government installations in their areas. He asked them to check attendance of teachers and health staff in their respective health and education facilities.

The tribal people also agreed that they would fight jointly against anti-state elements. They said that tribal elders and security forces rendered sacrifices for restoration of peace in the area.

The assistant political agents also visited various schools in the agency to check security arrangements and attendance of students.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2015

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