SHANGLA: A government girls primary school in Toka area of Bisham tehsil here has been closed for the last three months because of absence of teaching staff, putting the future of about 200 students at stake.

Umar Wahab, a resident, said that they had repeatedly complained to the education department about the closure of the school, but it did not bother to take any action. Sources said that the female education officials also refrain from raiding the school to check presence of the teachers or take action them.

Mohammad Riaz, another resident, said that the girl students from Toka, Dehrai and Shawar areas were enrolled in the primary school, but due to its closure they were worried about their future.

Waseema Bib, a grade-3 student of the school, said that she wanted to get education, but her school was closed as their teachers were not coming.

“After summer vacations we visited the school frequently but retuned disappointed as there was no teacher,” she said and added that two teachers was posted to the school, but both were not attending to their duty.

Parents of the students warned that if the school was not opened within a week they would come on to the Karakoram Highway along with their children for agitation against the education department.

According to the parents, when they contacted the district education department regarding the long closure of the Toka primary school the officials said that one teacher was on leave while they had issued a show-cause notices to the second one.

This correspondent tried to contact the district education officer (female) for her comments on the matter, but she did not attend the call.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2018