Halfway there: Girls not receiving full education stipends

One student says teachers forcibly take half the amount

PESHAWAR:

In theory, the education emergency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has resulted in girls getting encouragement in the form of a Rs2,400 annual stipend for each student. However, the entire amount is yet to be received by them.

The K-P government launched various initiatives to enrol out-of-school children. To encourage girls, the government provided Rs200 per month to every girl student from Class VI to X.

This amount was sent by the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department to school heads through the post office. However, students in various districts claimed they hadn’t received the full amount.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a student of the Government Girls High School Qasab Khana in Peshawar said she received Rs600 and that too was an arrear from the previous year. However, her friends were paid the entire Rs2,400.

Another government school girl, choosing to keep her institution and identity anonymous, said her teachers demand half the amount and collect it from the students. She appealed to the government to take action against these schools or use an alternate method to deliver the stipend.

Encouraging education, enrolment

According to the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department’s Annual Achievement Report, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the stipend was distributed across 23 districts. In the remaining districts, Kohistan and Torghar, the stipend package was actually significantly higher.

The report further stated there was one other stipend package to tackle the low net enrolment ratio in seven districts such as Peshawar, Upper Dir, Swat, Battagram , Shangla, Hangu and Tank.  In these districts, girl students from Class VI to X received an additional Rs1,800, making the total stipend Rs4,200 for the year.

The disbursement

A government high school principal explained the amount is received through the post and then heads of the institutions distribute it among students. She said they sent all the students’ records to the education department which sent the amount according to the number of students.

She added at the time of receiving the stipend, students sign the necessary documentation and the authorities also take a copy of the recipient’s father’s CNIC.

K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Department Additional Secretary Qaiser Alam said the government has taken various initiatives to encourage girls to attend school. He said parent-teacher councils are helping resolve all issues at the school level.

He said they are now planning to increase the stipend to encourage girls to continue their education. Alam claimed no students or parents complained about the stipend and if any of the girls have not received the money, they can lodge cases with the department.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2015.