Opposition bashes K-P govt for lack of practical steps to fix ‘education emergency’

Education minister outlines future plans for the sector .

PESHAWAR: Education was the agenda of the day in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday wherein Primary and Secondary Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan announced that the government was planning a Tameer-e-School programme.

Elaborating on the details, Khan said under the scheme, people will be able to donate funds in order to provide missing facilities in public schools. The minister further said that the donations would be utilised through parent-teacher councils to ensure transparency.

According to Khan, the government was also planning to install biometric systems at 85 offices and 150 schools to monitor attendance. Other reforms that the minister promised next year include replacing schools that have only two classrooms with schools that have six classrooms.

Opposition leaders criticised the government for announcing an education emergency in the province during the budget but failing to do anything about it.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) parliamentary leader Maulana Luftur Rehman asked what steps the government had taken to tackle the education emergency. “Has the standard of public schools come at par with private schools? What training has been imparted to teachers,” questioned Rehman.

He further said the government was transferring the education sector to non-government organisations and so far no improvements are visible.

Rehman asked the government to clarify its position on the matter.

Qaumi Watan Party lawmaker Miraj Humayun Khan also backed Rehman and said after meetings held with working groups an eight-point strategy was formed, however, no solutions had come out of the meetings.  “The government wants to implement a uniform curriculum but who will teach it,” she questioned.

Law and order briefing

Earlier, the K-P government arranged an in-camera briefing for opposition leaders on the province’s law and order situation.

At the end of a two-day debate on law and order earlier this week, senior minister Sirajul Haq had promised lawmakers that a briefing would be held for them. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and parliamentary leaders of the joint opposition were in attendance.

Following the briefing, a senior opposition leader told The Express Tribune that the government apprised them of the steps it was taking to control deteriorating law and order. He added they were told that the bomb disposal unit was being properly equipped, new police stations would be constructed and weapons would be provided to policemen.