Eight-year-old dies of heatstroke in classroom in Swabi

Students were called to school during summer vacation to have their homework checked

PESHAWAR: An eight-year-old boy died of heat stroke at a school in Swabi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Saturday when its administration called students there to check their homework assigned for the summer vacation.

Khiyam Khan, a first-grader enrolled in a state-run school in Swabi, belonged to an impoverished family.

A school teacher told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that Khiyam had died in a classroom.

The staff member added that on his way to the school, Khiyam had suffered a heatstroke because of the soaring temperature.

The teacher said the deputy commissioner Swabi had ordered all state-run schools to call students after every 15 days during their summer break to check their homework.

Previously, teachers would assign work to their students before the break and then check it once the school reopened after the end of the vacation.

This time around, however, academic institutions must call their students on three occasions to check their homework, in an attempt to better prepare them for their examinations.

When the school's administration found the boy's lifeless body in the classroom, he was rushed to a nearby clinic.



He, however, was already dead by the time they reached. The victim's family resides in Village Parmolo.

Khan Sher, Khiyam's father, said that his son was healthy and had no complaints of any illness.

On the day the incident took place, Khiyam had brought home groceries and then left for school.

(K-P) Elementary and Secondary Education Media Adviser Najuiullah Khattak maintained in a statement that former district education officer Swabi Jehan Muhammad had come up with the plan to check homework during summer vacation.



This step was taken with in consultation with the deputy commissioner Swabi and the first phase of checking was fixed on July 1.

The statement read that a Parmoli student on arrival at the school died after having a heart attack and he had a "birth abnormality".

Khattak added that he went to the victim's residence to pay his condolences, as well as, offer financial assistance to his father.

He claimed the family is fully aware of the cause of death.