Khan said he asked those students present at the school to go fetch their classmates, but only a few parents were willing to change their mind. PHOTO: FILE
Most students of the Government Middle School, Koz Kadi, 500 yards from Mohmand Agency’s headquarters Ghallanai, did not attend school when UNICEF teams visited to distribute aid goods.
One of the teachers, Bakhtiar Khan said around 90% of the students were missing during the morning assembly on Monday, and attendance only improved slightly as the day progressed.
He maintained parents did not send their children to school because of the UNICEF initiative to distribute first aid medical kits and stationery such as school bags and notebooks among students. While the initiative itself may help to equip students better - parents feel it could attract the ire of militants, and make the school prone to bomb attacks. Some also felt that since medical supplies have been dispatched by authorities, there may be an imminent threat to the school.
Khan said he asked those students present at the school to go fetch their classmates, but only a few parents were willing to change their mind. Some children said they were on their way to school when an old woman warned them of the possibility of a bomb blast.
Another teacher said UNICEF’s move triggered fear after a fourth-grade female teacher started spreading rumours. She told locals she had seen medical equipment at a warehouse in Ghallanai, indicating that something untoward was expected to happen, said the teacher.
Hubaib, a fifth grader, said he was en route to school when an old woman standing by the roadside warned him of a possible bomb attack. He said he returned home because many schools had been targeted and blown up in the past and he did not want to take any chances.
Another student, Suhail said the house of a suspected militant was recently demolished by security forces and the rumours only escalated their fear of retribution. He added that the curfew like situation had also made them suspicious.
More than a 100 schools have so far been destroyed in Mohmand Agency. While most claim to have been reopened, the assertion is only on paper, and students no longer attend these schools.
Curfews and stringent checking have become routine and locals complain the uncertainty is wreaking havoc on their mental wellbeing.
Dr Dawood, a surgeon, said there is no psychiatrist at Headquarters Hospital, Ghallanai, and all stress-related and psychological illnesses are treated by other doctors. He added that no project to rehabilitate such patients was in the pipeline either.
He stressed student counseling was an essential part of education, and that those in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas should not be deprived of such an integral component.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2013.
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