PESHAWAR, Jan 5: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has expressed concern over the high drop-out rate, particularly at the primary school level, in tribal areas and asked the education department to take corrective measures.

He was speaking at a presentation given to him at the Governor's House on Tuesday on development works being carried out in Mohmand Agency. The governor said that education was the top-most priority of the government and there must not be any shortcomings and deficiency in this connection.

"Unless we identify the actual causes for this situation, we would have no improvement," he said, urging that the drop-out phenomenon must be checked. The presentation was held to review the findings, observations and recommendations of the Governor's Inspection Team regarding development schemes in Mohmand Agency.

Inspection team chairman, Iftikhar Ali Shah, while reviewing the report, pointed out certain anomalies identified in different sectors and development schemes. The governor ordered an inquiry into complaints of use of substandard material in the construction of dug-wells.

He asked the heads of line departments to accept the criticism and observations of the team with an open mind. He said that non-salaried budget must be audited and the community as well as agency council committees and agency finance cells should also be involved in the process.

Regarding maintenance and repair funds, he said, this should be ascertained as per number of structures available with the department and the education and health sectors should get maximum.

He directed that a random check of maintenance and repair work must be carried out. Taking exception to the closure of some basic health units, the governor said that disciplinary action must be initiated against the responsible officials.

In future, he added, no extension in any health institution would be allowed until they started utilizing their full capacity. He directed the authorities concerned to ensure that no encroachments were set up along roads, adding that relevant rules must be followed in this regard.