Peshawar schools start second shift to boost enrolment

Govt will open new schools in rented buildings

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education ministry has started second shift schooling system in the provincial capital and announced that soon it will be extended to schools in the merged districts.

“We want to facilitate children who could not attend the morning shift,” CM’s Adviser Ziaullah Bangash said inaugurating the second shift school in Huzaifa Aftab Higher Secondary School Hayatabad on Friday.

Initially, 200 students from grade 6th to 9th were given admission in second shift classes.

In his address on this occasion, Zia Ullah Bangash said from the very first day the PTI government was making efforts towards this end in a bid to attract out of school children towards education and materialize the dream of Imran Khan and CM KP Mehmood Khan to not let any child remain out of school due to any reason.He said the second shift classes at government schools have been started from Hayatabad and very soon this network would be extended to the entire province including erstwhile FATA districts.

The step he said will help bring those children to schools who remain out of schools due to poverty and employment and shortage of seats during morning hours.

The programme will help increase enrolment, said Bangash. “We will hire services of teachers willing to work in the second shift, while some teachers will also be hired from private sector, but it would be totally on merit,” Bangash stated.

He said the education department has set a target to enrol 206 million out of school children across the province.

The increased numbers of schoolchildren will also require space for which the government will upgrade schools to accommodate the rest of the children in second shift.

Bangash said government has started a programme to open schools in rented building in areas where schools are too far away for children.

“Regarding performance, we will give model school status to two boys and two girls schools in each district,” he said.

These model schools will have their own boards and principle of the school could take decision related to any issue authorized by the education department.

Bangash while inaugurating the second shift classes in Government Huzaifa Aftab Shaheed Higher Secondary School Hayatabad paid tribute to the staff and teachers of the school for achieving best results in annual exams, maintaining standard of education and cleanliness at the school and wearing gown during duty hours.

The advisor also approved renovation and rehabilitation of examination Hall of Govt Huzaifa Aftab Shaheed Higher Secondary School and assured that on basis of its performance the school would soon get the status of model school

Describing importance of second shifts at schools, the advisor said this move would bring at least 2.6 million out of school children to schools. Owing to second shifts schools are being up graded that would help cope with shortage of educational institutions to a great extent as construction of a new school takes almost four years. He said the second shift in schools would take utilization of school buildings to double-level. The Advisor said we are providing complete support to the private schools but the private schools should also respect writ of the government and avoid charging fees beyond the prescribed volume.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2019.