GILGIT, Aug 2: Eight student bodies belonging to various political parties in Northern Areas have formed an alliance to press for their demands and negotiate their problems at the higher levels.

The alliance, Gilgit-Baltistan Talaba Mahaz (GBTM), will provide a common platform for all the students of Northern Areas to discuss the issues and problems faced by them in various colleges of the area as well as in the country.

They said through this forum they wanted to make their voice heard by the quarters concerned.

The alliance, comprises of Imamia Students Organization (ISO), Peoples Student Federation (PSF), Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), Karakoram Students Organization (KSO), Balawaristan Students Organization (BNSO), Nagar Students Federation (NSF), Muslim Students Federation (MSF) and Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam (JTI), have unanimously elected Saeedul Hasnain its chairman, Badaruddin vice-chairman and Abdul Samad general-secretary.

The newly-elected office-bearers of the GBTM said they would approach the Federal Education Minister, Zobaida Jalal and Northern Areas chief executive Abbas Sarfaraz Khan for addressing their grievances including the issues of overseas scholarships and allocation of admission quota in various colleges and universities of the country.

Through a resolution the GBTM members lashed out at the delay in classes at the Karakoram International University and criticized poor matric results in the recent FBISE exams.

They criticized the educational authorities for undertaking cosmetic measures and asked them to introduce structural and academic reforms in Northern Areas schools.