Eleven years have passed since the Government Primary School Koheri Bala in Lower Dir was destroyed by an earthquake but children have been forced to study in the open, jeopardizing their future.
The earthquake, measuring 7.5 on Richter's magnitude scale, hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan in October 2015, leaving hundreds of people dead.
The government had declared the school building unsafe for use. Later, the damaged building was razed to the ground with the intention of rebuilding.
In 2021, the provincial government had earmarked Rs2.5 million for its reconstruction and subsequently the relevant authorities issued a tender notice. But the process seems to be hijacked by bureaucratic red tape.
In the absence of a proper building schoolchildren have been forced to take classes in the open sky and sit on the ground, causing great inconvenience to both teachers and pupils. Seasonal effects — scorching heat during the summer and extreme cold in the winter — add misery to the already bludgeoned woes of the people.
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