PESHAWAR: Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday expressed concern over the education department’s failure to operationalise the schools in different parts of the province for which buildings have been constructed decades ago.

They demanded early recruitment of teachers for non-functional schools.

The issue was raised by MPA Ubaidur Rehman through a calling attention notice in a session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.

Mr Rehman said the buildings for two government high schools in Lower Dir tehsil were put up 14 years ago but the education department failed to recruit teachers, rendering both schools non-functional.

Minister says govt has approached Public Service Commission for appointments

Due to the non-functionality of both high schools, the girls were deprived of their education in the respective areas, he said.

He said that girls couldn’t go to schools several kilometers away as it was not possible in the mountainous regions.

He demanded of the government to immediately appoint teachers to save the future of their daughters.

He said that he pursued this case in the elementary and secondary education department for 15 months, and requested officials and former education minister for the appointment of teachers but in vain.

He said that he raised this issue on the floor of the house because the education department failed to do anything.

Participating in the debate, MPA Nazeer Abbasi also drew the house’s attention, saying such schools were also present in the Hazara division as well.

“The schools constructed decades ago in my area were still awaiting the teachers’ appointment. Such school buildings are now in bad condition,” he said.

This practice was not only depriving the girls from education but also wasting the public money, he said.

He said that it was a very serious issue and requested the chair to issue a ruling to the government to frame a policy in this regard.

He suggested the government also start the process for teachers’ recruitment alongside the construction of the schools’ buildings.

Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party Ahmad Karim Kundi said that it was unfortunate that the government had failed to operationalise the schools when 5.5 million children were out of school in the province.

He urged the chair to refer the matter to the relevant standing committee of the house for submitting a report in the next 15 days.

MPA Riaz Khan said that on one hand, they were making all-out efforts to push the government into constructing more schools but on the other, the schools had been constructed but they’re non-operational due to the lack of teachers.

“The unavailability of teachers is unfair with our school-going daughters,” he said, urging the government to seek explanation from the relevant education officials for the long delay.

Responding to the queries of lawmakers, law minister Aftab Alam Afridi said the government had already requested the Public Service Commission for the appointment of teachers to such schools.

He said that the process of the PCS appointments took around three years to complete.

He said that the government was in correspondence with PCS to change the pattern for the fast appointment of teachers.

The law minister said that the government had established schools and colleges in far-off areas but no teachers were ready to perform there.

He assured the house that all possible efforts would be made to appoint teachers to non-functional schools before the start of the next academic year.

Through another resolution, MPA Farah Khan said that the students of the nursing department of the Kohat University of Science and Technology had been protesting for the last one week as the nursing council had yet not recognised the degree.

She said that the students would complete their BS course in the next few months, but the university, instead of awarding degrees, would hand over just a piece of paper to them.

The speaker directed the law minister to take up the issue with the higher education department and launch an inquiry into it.

He later adjourned the session until today (Tuesday).

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2025