LOWER DIR: Jamaat-i-Islami, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) chief Inayatullah Khan has declared the provincial government’s decision to outsource 55 government degree colleges and several hospitals an attack on the province’s future.

Talking to reporters in Timergara on Friday, he said education and health were not businesses but people’s constitutional and fundamental rights. He warned that privatisation would skyrocket tuition fees and treatment charges, depriving poor and middle-class people of quality education and healthcare.

“Privatisation will not only harm students and patients, but also put teachers and staff in uncertainty, reducing their salaries and benefits and eliminating job security,” he added.

Mr Inayatullah said privatisation would allow a few private institutions in urban centres to profit while rural and underdeveloped areas would be deprived of basic facilities. “This is an injustice that will darken the future of coming generations,” he remarked.

He criticised the PTI-led provincial government for what he called incompetence and flawed policies.

The JI leader announced his party would strongly resist the move.

Meanwhile, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), student wing of Jamaat, also staged protests in various colleges of Lower and Upper Dir against the provincial government’s decision to replace BS programmes in several subjects with a two-year associate degree programme and its alleged plans to privatise public sector colleges.

Addressing the protesters, IJT Dir division nazim Ashfaq Ahmed demanded the immediate withdrawal of the decision. He also urged the government not to privatise colleges.

Separately, JI youth wing activists staged a protest on Friday against the prolonged delay in the construction of Kaladak-Takatak Road.

Addressing the protesters, JI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North) deputy general secretary Atiqur Rehman said the ruling party had failed to address public grievances during its eight years in power and should resign.

QUALITY EDUCATION: The district education department has announced a series of measures to improve the quality of education in Lower Dir, including the implementation of the semester system, strict monitoring of attendance, and the promotion of extracurricular activities in public sector schools.

These decisions were taken at a meeting of principals and headmasters of high and higher secondary schools held at Government Centennial High School, Timergara, here on Friday with district education officer Mohammad Ilyas Khattak in the chair.

The participants discussed the provincial government’s decision to introduce the semester system to reduce the weight of schoolbags and improve the academic environment.

They also reviewed strategies to ensure regular attendance of teachers and students.

DEO Khattak assured the participants that shortage of teachers in government schools would soon be overcome and facilities upgraded.

He directed school heads to pay greater attention to students’ learning and character-building, organise literary sessions regularly, ensure lesson planning by teachers, and keep school premises clean.

He also instructed them to reserve one period per week for sports and extracurricular activities to enhance students’ mental and physical abilities.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2025