GHALANAI: Shaheed Banda area of Pandilai tehsil in Mohmand Agency has no middle or high school, as a result of which students are forced to quit education after passing primary level.

Shaheed Banda is a far-flung and backward area with low literacy rate as it has only one primary school for boys, constructed back in 1980, and a girls primary school set up in 2007, according to the residents.

They said that the nearest high school was at a distance of about 15 kilometers in Matta area of Charsadda district, which compelled many students to quit education halfway.

Also, they said there was no health centre in the area due to which patients had to be taken to Peshawar.

Usman Khan, an elder, told Dawn that the local people had set up a welfare organisation with the name of Shaheed Banda Youth Organization for solution to the problems of the area.

Gul Zada, the organisation’s president, and tribal elder, Sher Zaman, told Dawn that their children covered a distance of about 15 kilometers daily on foot to reach school in Matta area of Charsadda.

Usman Khan and Mass Khan, the local residents, complained that the local administration didn’t facilitate them in preparation of CNICs, domiciles and providing education and health facilitates as it had declared the area as defective, which meant that it neither was part of the tribal agency nor Charsadda district.

The local people demanded of the KP governor and Mohmand political administration to initiate development works in the backward area.

When contacted, APA lower Mohmand Agency Sajid Nawaz told Dawn that half of Shaheed Banda lied in the jurisdiction of the tribal agency, while the rest was part of Charsadda district.

However, he said that the political administration was committed to solving the health and education problems of the tribesmen.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2015

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