PESHAWAER, June 28: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday took notice of deterioration of education sector in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and asked the government to provide record of funds provided to tribal areas for education and its utilisation.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk put on notice the President of Pakistan through his principal secretary, the prime minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and chief minister, and federal ministers for education and states and frontier region (Safron).

The court took notice of the issue while hearing petitions filed by two students belonging to Bajaur Agency who passed their matriculation examination from Peshawar and had applied for admission to Islamia College, Peshawar, and Jinnah College for Women against quota reserved for tribal areas. They claimed that the two colleges had not been considering their applications on the ground that they had not studied in tribal areas.

The bench also put on notice the management of the two colleges and directed them to provide details about where the children of teachers of these two institutions had been studying.

The chief justice observed that so far billions of rupees had been provided for development of education sector in Fata, but the amount had gone down the drain. He said that tribal students had still been moving from pillar to post in search of admission in prestigious colleges.

Advocate Attique Shah contended the case for the petitioners, Ms Shabnum Sarzameen and Suleman Saeed who belonged to conflict-hit Charmang area of Bajaur Agency. He stated that due to militancy their families were displaced from Bajaur and they took shelter in Peshawar.

Mr Shah contended that the two students got admission here and passed their matriculation examination from Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Peshawar, as educational institutions in their area were non-functional.

The chief justice observed that huge funds had been spent on setting up quality educational institutions in tribal areas, but provision of quality education was almost non-existent there. He said that the officials sitting in Islamabad were not aware of ground realities in Fata and they did not realise the importance of imparting education to girls.