DI Khan village locks school in protest

Local residents in a Dera Ismail Khan village took a decisive stand against the chronic shortage of teachers by locking the Government Middle School in protest.

The community, hailing from the Malikhi village council, convened on Friday to express their frustration over the school’s operation with just one teacher for the past year. The village, situated on the outskirts of DI Khan city, is home to approximately 250 students attending the sole middle school.

Despite numerous appeals to the district education officer yielding no results, the residents felt compelled to address the dire situation independently.

Expressing their concerns to The Express Tribune, locals emphasized the critical shortage of 9 teachers in the school.

“We have repeatedly contacted the district education officer, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The middle school has been functioning with only a single teacher for an entire year,” lamented the residents.

They underscored the futility of their efforts, stating that their children attend school daily only to sit idle and return home. Despite multiple meetings with the district education officer, their demands for additional teachers went unanswered.

The aggrieved parents argued that the lack of staff has detrimentally affected the future of their children, with no attention from the relevant authorities. In response to this perceived negligence, the community decided to escalate their protest by locking the school building.

Expressing the gravity of the situation, parents revealed, “Currently, with 250 students, there is only one teacher who cannot effectively cater to all their educational needs.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2023.