100% enrolment: Education campaign kicks off in tribal areas, says Jhagra

Students receive prizes for passing centralised grade five, eight exams

PESHAWAR: The education campaign to enrol children in schools in the tribal areas was formally launched on Friday by Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra in Peshawar. This was mentioned in a handout issued on the same day.

“We have already announced an education emergency in the tribal areas,” Jhagra said at Governor House at a prize distribution ceremony for students of classes five and eight who passed centralised exams. He urged tribespeople to play their role in ensuring 100% enrolment in the schools in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Students to schools

Jhagra said, children between four and nine years of age will be enrolled, adding steps were being taken to start enrolling children from April 8 till May 31. Over 400,000 children in this group would be enrolled during the drive – in the first phase 140,000 would be taken in for schools in the tribal areas. While calling education the prerequisite to progress, Jhagra said books would be provided to students without any delay.



To make sure teachers attend classes, an advanced monitoring system is supposed to be set up. Jhagra added they announced 1,765 vacancies for science teachers through an advertisement who would be hired through the National Testing Service.

According to the handout, the governor said teachers would be deployed keeping enrolment in mind. He believed the induction of teachers would bring a positive change in the quality of education.

He said quality of education can also be improved through assessment and quarterly examinations could help in that. Jhagra announced quarterly examinations would also be held in addition to centralised ones so the weak areas could be identified for improvement.

The governor distributed admission forms among the children. He also congratulated the FATA Education Department and its team for holding the first centralised exams for classes five and eight in Fata successfully.

He appreciated students who continued their studies despite adverse circumstances in Fata.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th,  2016.