PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) has ended a three-year diploma programme offered by the provincial capital’s lone women polytechnic institute.

An official told Dawn requesting anonymity that the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women, Hayatabad, offered three-year diplomas in architecture, dressmaking and designing, and electronics for girls from all over the province.

He said the province had two such institutes one in Peshawar and other in DI Khan and therefore, the closure of Peshawar one would deprive a large number of women of the chance to excel in the field of technical education and skills.

The Tevta plans to start a centre of excellence offering short-courses and will use the resources of two other technical education centres besides that polytechnic institute for it.

On July 2, 2018, Tevta wrote a letter to the institution’s administration informing it about the discontinuation of the diploma level courses.

The letter said in its 12th meeting, the Tevta board of directors approved the establishment of a centre of excellence and utilisation of the Government Polytechnic Institute of Women, Government Technical Training Centre and Government Technical And Vocational Centre, all located in Hayatabad area, for the proposed centre.

It said to implement the board’s decision and avoid discomfort to the students, further admission to the diploma level programmes for the next academic session should not be offered and fresh admission should not be advertised.

The letter also said that to utilise the resources for the training of the youth, short courses of three to six months duration could be continued until the time the rehabilitation/alteration work in the building starts.

Local resident Zia Mohammad, who visited the centre a couple of days ago to pick up her daughter enrolled there, said he saw several girls from far-off places like Chitral there to get admission.

He said it was one of the few institutes offering technical education to poor girls and three years diploma programme’s closure was an injustice with them.

“I saw around 10 girls, who had come there to get admission, but they had to return due to the closure of the diploma programme,” he said.

An official requesting anonymity insisted that Tevta managing director Commodore Mohammad Amin had destroyed the technical education sector of the province.

He said Mr Amin was initially appointed as the chief minister’s adviser on aviation but later he was also made the Tevta’s managing director. The official said during the PTI government, several technical institutes were handed over to the Pakistan Air Force, which current run them as the Shaheen Technical and Vocational Institutes.

General secretary of the Sarhad Engineering Teachers Association Ziaur Rehman told Dawn that under the Tevta Act, 2015, the MD should be hired on permanent basis but the government was reluctant to do so and thus, causing the diversion of its funds.

He criticised the decision to end the diploma programme and termed it as injustice with the poor girls of the province.

Industries secretary Fahim Wazir wasn’t available for comments.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2018