BATTAGRAM: People of Battagram have demanded of the authorities to establish a university campus in the district so the local youth don’t have to go to distant places for getting higher education.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, they said they sent their children for higher studies to Peshawar, Islamabad, Abbottabad, Manshera and other cities of Pakistan, bearing huge expenses.

They added that some parents, who could not afford, stopped their children from getting further education after graduation.

They said the provincial government of PTI had failed to keep its word to enforce education emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Amjid Ali, a fourth-year student, told Dawn that he was studying in government degree college, Battagram, but he was uncertain where to get higher education after completing his studies locally as there was no varsity campus in the district. “It is not possible for me to move to other cities for higher education as my father is poor,” he added. “As I want to study further I demand of the government to establish a university campus in Battagram.”

Mohammad Asghar said he was worried about his son’s future as there was no facility in Battagram for higher education. “I cannot afford to send my child outside of the district for higher studies,” he added.

Fazal Rehman lamented that government representatives had failed to come up to the people’s expectations. The political leaders of different parties have been claiming that they had got approved a university campus for Battagram, but to no avail, he added.

Javed Iqbal Ulasyar, social and political activist, said Battagram was one of the most backward districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where education, health and development activities were next to nil due to apathy of the political leadership.

Gulfam Sabir, a poet, told Dawn that for last eight years people had been told that a university campus for Battagram had been approved but that was just a hollow claim. He pointed out that during this period two campuses had been set up in Abbottabad and Haripur districts.

He said the government should form an autonomous body to identify the areas where people needed schools, colleges and universities, and on the basis of these reports the government should set up educational institutions.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2016