MANSEHRA: Children at a community school in Mera Akazai village of Kundar Hassanzai tehsil in Torghar district on Friday took to the streets demanding the construction of a government primary school in the area.

“We have been studying in the open under a schooling programme of the Elementary Education Foundation. The government should approve a regular school for us with a proper building and teachers,” a schoolgirl told reporters.

Holding placards, the students assembled in Mera Akazai area and urged the government to immediately construct a building for their school and upgrade it to a regular government primary school.

They said it was the only educational facility in the area, and they could not travel far away to pursue their basic education.

A local elder, Zahid Khan, said they had repeatedly raised the issue with the Elementary Education Foundation but no step had been taken.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should build a primary school here so local boys and girls can get education at their doorstep,” he said.

He added that though Torghar was given the status of a settled district in 2011, tribesmen were still deprived of basic amenities and services.

“There isn’t a single higher secondary school for girls in the entire district,” Mr Khan said. He demanded that the government develop proper educational infrastructure in Torghar.

PINK-EYE DISEASE: Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink-eye, has spread in the upper parts of Hazara, with hundreds of patients reporting to health facilities across the division.

“We have launched an awareness drive through brochures, and medics are sensitising people on how to protect themselves from this rapidly spreading virus,” Upper Kohistan DC Tariq Ali Khan told reporters. Cases of conjunctivitis are being reported in Mansehra, Upper Kohistan, Torghar, Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas.

“Though most parts of Upper Kohistan remained safe from recent flash floods, cases are now being reported widely in Kandia Valley and Harban Nullah where floodwaters washed away roads and infrastructure,” Mr Khan said. He added that assistant commissioners had been directed to create awareness about the eye infection.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2025