Three tribal agencies to start postgrad classes

Rs3.8b to be spent on education sector for FATA from 2014-15 development outlay.

PESHAWAR: At least Rs196 million will be used to start postgraduate classes in Government Degree College Khar in Bajaur Agency, Parachinar in Kurram Agency and Miranshah in NWA, The Express Tribune learnt. According to official sources, a plan is also in the works to set up FATA University at an estimated cost of Rs1.5 billion.

The FATA Secretariat has allocated Rs3.865 billion for the education sector in the development outlay of Fata 2014-15. Considerable damage has been done to educational institutions in the region due to the war and conflict, said Governor Sardar Mehtab Abbassi at the FATA Secretariat on Monday. “That is why we have kept the education sector on top of the list in the FATA uplift program.”

The list

An amount of Rs112 million has been allocated for the construction of hostels in postgraduate colleges in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

At least Rs50 million will be used as financial aid for talented students. Rs194 million has been allocated for the provision of free textbooks to students up to class five in all government schools in the area.

According to the development outlay plans, as many as 38 middle schools will be established across Fata and as many as 125 primary schools will be turned into middle schools in the current fiscal year.

In addition, 35 degree colleges, including 23 for boys and 12 for girls, and three postgraduate colleges have already been established in Fata.

For the women

Three hostels for women are planned for teachers from distant areas. In a bid to promote the education of girls, an amount of Rs35 million has been allocated to be given to students from classes six to 10 as financial aid.

The literacy rate for girls stands at 10.5% compared to 36.66% for boys, despite considerable expenditure incurred by the FATA Secretariat to improve education statistics in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Frontier Regions (FRs), said official documents present with The Express Tribune.

Statistics for girls enrolled in educational institutions as per FATA Education Atlas 2011-12

Agencies	Enrolment (in %)
South Waziristan	7.5
North Waziristan	4.3
Kurram	21.0
Bajaur	4.7
Mohmand	5.7
Orakzai	5.1
Khyber	16.1

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2014.