PESHAWAR: A delegation of elders belonging to upper Swat on Thursday held a meeting with lawmakers of different political parties and urged them to play their role in provision of educational facilities, opening of new institutions and allocation of funds for improvement of the existing infrastructure in Swat’s rural localities.

The delegation included notables, community leaders and local government representatives who met the lawmakers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly at a local hotel in Peshawar. The lawmakers present in the meeting included MNA Hameedul Haq and MPAs Syed Jaffar Shah, Rashad Khan and Amina Sardar, who said they would meet Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and also raise the issues on the floor of KP Assembly.

The jirga elders were led by Dr Jawad Iqbal, who presented issues of education in their area of Swat Kohistan in Swat district.

According to a statement issued by Dr Iqbal, the delegation was facilitated during the meeting by Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi. The elders highlighted the problems, including lack of schools for girls, especially middle, high and higher secondary schools.

Hold meeting with lawmakers in Peshawar

It said that in the entire area there was only one high school and of the three middle schools one was dysfunctional. However, there is no middle or high school for girls for a population of about 90,000 people between union councils Bahrain and Kalam, or in the UCs of Makiyal and Bishgram. It said that 90 per cent of girls and 47 per cent of boys dropped out of school by the 5th grade.

“As many as 69 of 100 middle and high school teachers are non-locals, leading to increased absenteeism. In Swat Kohistan the number of female teachers is insufficient and almost all the primary schools for girls have only one teacher each,” the statement said.

Only 26 per cent of all students enrolled in Swat Kohistan are girls, while the overall gender ratio in the area’s population is 100:96 (boys to girls). It was stated that less than seven per cent of the students enrolled in middle or high schools in Swat Kohistan, with the exception of UC Bahrain, were girls. It said that the number of the primary schools for girls should be increased.

The delegation suggested that at least each union council must have one high school for girls. Degree colleges for girls and boys need to be established in Bahrain and Kalam.

It was demanded that at least each union council must have one high school for girls, while degree colleges for girls and boys should be established in Bahrain and Kalam. Also, the number of high schools for boys must be doubled in the area. It also called for appointment of local teachers in the area.

“All the sanctioned vacant positions in the teaching cadre of every level must immediately be filled,” the statement said, adding that the government high school, Bahrain should be upgraded to the status of higher secondary school.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016