MANSEHRA: Over 2,000 girls of Sari Gial village in Upper Kohistan are out of school as the building of the lone primary school in the area is in dilapidated condition and teachers are receiving salaries without performing duty.

“The local girls have been deprived of education facility since the school building developed minor cracks in 2005 earthquake and the contractor misappropriated funds meant for its repair,” Mehmood Khan, a local, told reporters on Saturday.

The same was the condition of three boys schools in the village, but somehow, students have been getting education sitting in the open, but girls cannot do so because of the local customs, said Mr Khan, adding the villagers took up the issue with the Independent Monitoring Unit of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, but not to avail.

Another community member from the village, Abdul Wadood, said teachers of the primary girls school were drawing salaries without performing their duties. “We have also informed the education department about the issue, but the staff been made to attend to their duties,” he said.

He said that Erra had sanctioned funds for repair of the school, and the contractor withdrew an initial amount of Rs600,000 but didn’t spend a single penny on the building.

The regional campaign organiser of NGO Alif Aileen, Hafizur Rehman said most students had to discontinue education after passing the primary school due to absence of a middle school in the village.

“There is not a single middle school either for girls or boys in the area, resultantly they cannot continue their education on completion of primary level,” he said.

He demanded of the government to earmark funds for repair of the schools hit by the 2005 devastating earthquake in Kohistan.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2017