Education woes: Girls primary school blown up

Six suspects arrested in following search operation.

SHABQADAR: A government primary school for girls by the name of Haji Ibrahim was blown up by unidentified militants in Qandaro area of Safi tehsil late Wednesday night.

Political administration official Jamshed Khan said a homemade device was used in the explosion. A search operation was launched by the Frontier Corps and six suspects were arrested in the following raids, he added.

According to data from the education department, more than 100 schools have been destroyed in Mohmand Agency, out of which more than 60 are in Safi tehsil. Political Agent Dr Ambar Ali Khan told the media during a briefing that the administration plans to reconstruct 28 destroyed schools in 2013-2014.



Safi tehsil is one of the worst hit areas of Mohmand Agency. Majority of its residents have migrated to settled areas and many education and health institutions have been closed down since 2008.

In the beginning, staff members of these institutions were shifted to other areas such as Halemzai and Ekkaghund. After 2011, these institutions were reopened, but are still without teachers or students.

Mohmand Agency’s education department has planned to start examinations for primary and middle school students. The examination department’s data, however, revealed that except for Government Middle School Azeem Kor Qandaro, no other school has enrolled their students. Teachers, however, continue to draw salaries. An education department official alleged these teachers have further contributed to the dismal state of education in the agency, adding that authorities need to replace them and stop their salaries.

“Teachers don’t even know how many children are in their schools, while some of them submit fake attendance reports,” he added.

Some tehsils in Mohmand like Ambar are thickly populated and yet lack a high school.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2013.