PESHAWAR:
The first public school for Sikhs in Pakistan is nearing completion in Peshawar as "90 per cent construction work" has been concluded.
The work on the project practically started two years ago after a piece of land was purchased in the Jogan Shah Mohalla situated in the old city.
The project will be the first of its kind and provide an opportunity for the children of the Sikh community and other minorities to get an education in a better environment. A school in Peshawar had been a long-standing demand of the Sikhs from the province and the tribal areas.
Previously, about 300 children from the Sikh community were studying at an NGO-run school in Dabgri. The school operating in a rented house had to be shut down after the landlords asked the administration to evacuate.
However, after demands by the Sikh community for a new school, Atif Khan, the former provincial education minister and current food minister, announced the project for the first government school for the Sikh community.
The government tasked the Sikh community with purchasing space to make the construction of the school practical. After the purchase of land, the K-P government started work on the site six months ago.
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Commenting on the nearing completion of the first Sikh school, Rajveer Singh, 12, told The Express Tribune that his family had moved to Peshawar due to the law and order situation in the tribal district of Khyber. “I studied in a school in a rented building from kindergarten to fifth grade," he said, adding that while education standard was good at the school, it barely had any space.
On the other hand, the administration of the school had to deal with the demands and evacuation notices of the landlord. At times when they returned from vacation, they would even encounter the sight of locked school premises.
“Thanks to the efforts of our community,” Rajveer said, adding that it is for the first time Sikhs will have a government school in which we will be able to get education in a better environment under one roof.
Baba Gurpal Singh, a committee member of the first Sikh school in Pakistan and a social worker, told The Express Tribune that IDPs from Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram districts were forced to move to Peshawar.
Their children left their homes in the tribal areas and dropped out of school and education, he said, adding that children could not be sent to other areas due to security. He expressed gratitude to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government for providing Rs23 million for the school.
The school will have 15 classrooms where about 500 children will be able to study from nursery to middle school. Gurpal Singh further said that children of any minority community including Sikh, Hindu and Christian communities will be able to get education at the public school.
In addition, the doors of the school will also be open for Muslim children. The educational facility will be open to everyone, he said.
Harpreet Singh, a sixth-grade student, while talking to The Express Tribune maintained that only through education can we achieve a better place in society.
Rory Kumar, a member of the Standing Committee on Minority Affairs in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly who belongs to the Hindu community, said that Pakistan's first Sikh government school was a long-standing demand of the community.
"About 90 percent of the work has been completed at the site and only 10 percent of the construction work is left. The school will open soon. It will not only be an educational institution but also a testimonial of the state’s commitment to the rights and religious freedom of minorities in Pakistan," Kumar said. He thanked the government for this historic step.
Dr Sahib Singh, chairman of the National Commission for Peace Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, told The Express Tribune that the development of the special Sikh school would also send a message to those across the border.
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