MINGORA: Scores of girls seeking admission to BA, BSc and BS classes took to the streets against the shortage of seats in the Government Postgraduate Girls College, Saidu Sharif, here on Monday.

They demanded of the education department to increase seats and open more departments in the college to cater to the education needs of the local population.

The protesters accompanied by their mothers shouted slogans in favour of women’s education and said if the provincial government failed to provide them with educational facilities, the protest would spread to other parts of the country.

“This is the 21st century when women take part in every sector along with men but here in Swat, we’re denied our right to education. For the last 10 days, I have been coming to this college for admission to BS Zoology course but to no avail on the pretext of limited seats,” said Husna Ahmad, a girl from Saidu Sharif.

The protesters said more than 1000 girls from Saidu Sharif and Mingora were denied admission.

“The college administration says that it has only 40 seats in each department and all seats have been filled,” said Saira Ali wondering who is to blame for the misery of girls denied admission.

Roshni of Saidu Sharif said she wanted admission to BS Urdu course and that Premier Imran Khan should fulfil his promise of provision of education to everyone.

“The government eliminated BA course from these colleges and began BS programme in few departments where some girls were given admission. Now, we are knocking every door but nobody is helping us,” she told Dawn.

The girls said there were only eight departments for BS courses in the college and therefore, the government should approve more departments for accommodate all admission seekers. Muniba said women made half of the population but facilities for their education were equal to none.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018