LANDI KOTAL: Heads of all the government educational institutions in Khyber Agency have been asked to immediately acquire domicile forms from the political administration offices so that speedy issuance of the document to all the eligible tribal students could be ensured.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, political agent Khalid Mehmud said that parents of students had long been complaining that a lot of time was unnecessarily consumed in issuance of domicile certificate to their children.

He said assistant political agents of Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal had been directed to hold meetings with principals and headmasters of all the government schools, requiring them to immediately acquire the domicile forms and submit the filled document in the shortest possible time.

He said the clerical staff of his administration would work overtime to ensure speedy issuance of domicile certificates to all the applicants.

He said domiciles would be issued to students from grade 1 to grade 10 for which students were required to submit their three latest photos along with copy of their father’s CNIC.

Officials at the assistant political agent office in Landi Kotal said 200 forms each were issued to heads of at least 11 government high schools in the tehsil. Girls schools too were issued forms after a separate meeting with their heads, they added.

They said the administration would ensure completing the procedure in three days, adding at least three tribal elders were required to attest the domicile form and verify the credentials of the applicant.

Parents here had long been complaining about unnecessary delay in issuance of domicile certificates to their siblings which they alleged had resulted in delay in their admissions to schools and appearance in board examinations.

Officials, however, said only three out of the total 11 headmasters/principals attended the meeting with APA as majority of them had not been regularly attending to their official duties.

Bahadar Khan, principal of a school who attended the meeting, told Dawn that the number of students without domicile was high while the administration had provided only 200 forms for each high school, which had average strength of 1,200 students. He demanded of the administration to provide them the required number of domicile forms along with a firm assurance for their speedy issuance.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017