Education in FATA tangled in red tape

FATA – which is administratively under K-P – has been deprived of any drive, due to lack of sufficient funds.

SHABQADAR:

With the onset of spring came the start of the new academic year in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). On April 7, the K-P government kickstarted its enrolment drive and distribution of free books. However, adjacent Fata – which is administratively under K-P – has been deprived of any such drive, due to lack of sufficient funds for the education department.

A school headmaster in Mohmand Agency, Mujahid Khan, told The Express Tribune that students had started attending school since April 8th. However, no studies have begun, since there are no books to read from.

“The book distribution drive was initiated by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal provincial government in 2005 and continued under the Awami National Party government in Fata and K-P,” says Mujahid. “This time, though, there are no free books available to our students, nor can they purchase these books from private bookshops.”

“How do we provide the students with books when we haven’t been provided with them ourselves?” said a frustrated education officer in Ghallanai, Said Muhammad.

An official from the education department at the FATA Secretariat, Javed Khan said the books were purchased from the K-P Textbook Board and then provided to every agency according to their demand; however, this year they were refused their books.

“The FATA Education Department owes Rs259 million to the board in arrears,” the official said. “The additional cost of this year was going to be around Rs133 million, while we have only paid them Rs40 million so far.”

Javed says the board is now demanding the payment of all arrears, along with a 50% advance, but the education department lacks the funds to make these hefty payments. All we can hope for now is that the issue is resolved by next week and the distribution of books begins, says Javed.

“The K-P governor last year announced a 100% increase in student scholarships at the college and university level, but we have received no funds for this as yet,” said the official. “We used to receive Rs88 million for 37,000 students in 24 universities as scholarship, but we now demand this to be raised to Rs200 million.”

The main hurdle to the release of funds, says Javed, is the Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions. “In any case, most funds are released at the end of the financial year,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2014.