Three years and counting: Boys in Mashokhel study under the sky; girls have no choice but stay home
Schools which were destroyed in 2013 remain untouched by government
Students sit on the floor of GPS Mashokhel that was blown up by militants. PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
It was 2013 when Government Primary School Mashokhel was blown up. As 2016 settles in and brings with it new highs and lows, GPS Mashokhel still awaits reconstruction – along with three other schools in the area.
GPS Mashokhel was one of 750 schools which militants blew up and destroyed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. According to data from the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department these education centres were destroyed over the past six years.
The area of Mashokhel is located near the border of Khyber Agency. Four local educational institutes were in the list of schools destroyed in violence, including two primary schools for boys, one primary school for girls and one high school. Now the children of Mashokhel are left studying exposed to the elements; hot or cold, they study outdoors.
Locals have few kind words to offer when it comes to the government as the education department has displayed negligible interest in repair work. Families whose children are enrolled at GPS Mashokhel say the area is considered a part of the provincial capital but their attitude says otherwise. All four schools in the area lay in ruins, they say, but no one seems worried that the future of so many children is at stake.
Fazal Rabi, an elder of Mashokhel village, said, “Everyone who lives here wants their children to get an education and have a bright future but the enemies of education stole those rights.” And the fact that the government has not replaced a single brick in three years makes Rabi feel the right to an education has been usurped from the younger generation – the future of Mashokhel.
Rabbi requested the government to reconstruct local schools.
According to Mashokhel elder Rasool Jan, two of the schools in his neighbourhood were bombed. One was for boys and the other for girls. Jan said boys still had a fighting change as they attended classes regularly under the open sky but he was worried about the girls. “Parents do not allow their girls to sit outside in public; their school building can no longer be used.”
Jan echoed Rabi’s requests – that the government reconstruct schools and provide security so militants think twice about targeting it again.
The headmaster of GPS Mashokhel recalls 2013 as the year schools went down. “The same year K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department officials visited the school, took pictures of it.” He added, “In 2014, people from the same department came back – but nothing happened, nothing was reconstructed.”
He wrote five letters to the Peshawar DEO and the education department but he heard nothing positive in reply. “I even suggested they use our school’s Parent Teacher Council funds to rebuild, but that failed to get a reply from the department.”
When contacted, Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Atif Khan confirmed 750 schools were blown up by militants across K-P. “So far 705 have been reconstructed; the remaining 45 are scattered across the province, including the schools in Mashokhel.”
According to Muhammad Atif, he planned to check the status of schools in the border area and why reconstruction has not taken place so far.
The education minister stated all destroyed and damaged schools would be reconstructed and repaired. “New schools will be built in those areas where educational facilities are not available.” He added, the government has also allotted Rs10 billion to be used on providing adequate security and other facilities – these funds are being released to PTCs.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2016.
It was 2013 when Government Primary School Mashokhel was blown up. As 2016 settles in and brings with it new highs and lows, GPS Mashokhel still awaits reconstruction – along with three other schools in the area.
GPS Mashokhel was one of 750 schools which militants blew up and destroyed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. According to data from the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department these education centres were destroyed over the past six years.
The area of Mashokhel is located near the border of Khyber Agency. Four local educational institutes were in the list of schools destroyed in violence, including two primary schools for boys, one primary school for girls and one high school. Now the children of Mashokhel are left studying exposed to the elements; hot or cold, they study outdoors.
Locals have few kind words to offer when it comes to the government as the education department has displayed negligible interest in repair work. Families whose children are enrolled at GPS Mashokhel say the area is considered a part of the provincial capital but their attitude says otherwise. All four schools in the area lay in ruins, they say, but no one seems worried that the future of so many children is at stake.
Fazal Rabi, an elder of Mashokhel village, said, “Everyone who lives here wants their children to get an education and have a bright future but the enemies of education stole those rights.” And the fact that the government has not replaced a single brick in three years makes Rabi feel the right to an education has been usurped from the younger generation – the future of Mashokhel.
Rabbi requested the government to reconstruct local schools.
According to Mashokhel elder Rasool Jan, two of the schools in his neighbourhood were bombed. One was for boys and the other for girls. Jan said boys still had a fighting change as they attended classes regularly under the open sky but he was worried about the girls. “Parents do not allow their girls to sit outside in public; their school building can no longer be used.”
Jan echoed Rabi’s requests – that the government reconstruct schools and provide security so militants think twice about targeting it again.
The headmaster of GPS Mashokhel recalls 2013 as the year schools went down. “The same year K-P Elementary and Secondary Education department officials visited the school, took pictures of it.” He added, “In 2014, people from the same department came back – but nothing happened, nothing was reconstructed.”
He wrote five letters to the Peshawar DEO and the education department but he heard nothing positive in reply. “I even suggested they use our school’s Parent Teacher Council funds to rebuild, but that failed to get a reply from the department.”
When contacted, Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Atif Khan confirmed 750 schools were blown up by militants across K-P. “So far 705 have been reconstructed; the remaining 45 are scattered across the province, including the schools in Mashokhel.”
According to Muhammad Atif, he planned to check the status of schools in the border area and why reconstruction has not taken place so far.
The education minister stated all destroyed and damaged schools would be reconstructed and repaired. “New schools will be built in those areas where educational facilities are not available.” He added, the government has also allotted Rs10 billion to be used on providing adequate security and other facilities – these funds are being released to PTCs.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2016.