LANDI KOTAL: Over 100 students are forced to take classes in the open as the Bacha Mena primary school at the Torkham border has yet to be reconstructed after it was destroyed by militants some three years back.

Teachers and students at the school told Dawn that they had been braving harsh weather for the last two and half years as their repeated appeals to the concerned officials for rebuilding the school fell on deaf ears.

Hasan Shah, the school’s watchman, told Dawn that militants blew up the building consisting of three rooms and a veranda on the night of January 19, 2012 after scaling the boundary wall and overpowering him. The school remained closed for about six months but was later reopened after repeated calls by parents as there was no other primary school in the area.

The school now has 120 students who have to attend to their classes in the open with few broken chairs and desks.

Majid Khan, a fourth grader, said most of the students had to abandon their studies as there was no middle school in the border area where they could continue their studies after passing grade four.

Local elders, Malak Tahir and Tajuddin demanded immediate reconstruction of the school and its upgradation to middle level and posting of more qualified teachers there.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2015

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