SWAT: The residents of Alam Ganj village and its suburbs here have said that hundreds of local girls are being deprived of education beyond middle level owing to unavailability of a high school for them in the area.

Talking to this correspondent about the issue, they said majority of the girls had to abandon education after middle level because the high schools for girls were located far away in Charbagh and Khwazakhela areas.

“Some of the families manage to send their daughters to the high school in Charbagh because they can afford transportation charges. However, majority of the girls have to give up further education as their parents cannot afford to hire vehicles for them,” said Hanif Qais, a resident of Alam Ganj.

He said there were only two girls’ middle schools for over 2,000 households.

“I am in grade eighth and want to get higher education, but I am concerned about my future because my father is poor and unable to arrange transport for me from here, either to Khwazakhela or Charbagh,” said Noureen, a resident of Alam Ganj.

She appealed to the provincial government to start ninth and tenth classes in the local middle schools so that she and many other girls like her could get education.

The residents said that about 90 per cent of girls from poor families were deprived of education because of the absence of a high school.

They demanded the government to immediately start high level classes in the existing middle schools and also construct a high school for the girls in the area.

When contacted, MPA Sardar Khan said the government had approved a high school for girls in the area, but land was not available for it. He said the school would now be built in Guli Bagh village which was the nearest to Alam Ganj village.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2020