The ill-fated institute: APS schooled around 1,100 children

The institute is located in one of the city’s supposedly safer areas.

PESHAWAR: Eventually, when Army Public School and Degree College reopens, over 130 of its nearly 1,100 students will not be attending classes. These children’s lives were tragically cut short in Tuesday’s savage assault.

Commissioned in 1994, the institute was built on Warsak Road on around 100 kanals of land. From its modest beginnings when it only had a nursery block at the APS Warsak Boys Wing, it grew into a primary and subsequently a middle school. In its current form, the school offers education at the primary, middle and secondary levels.

It was formally registered with the Army Education Directorate GHQ in 1994 and expanded to teach students up to class six by 1996.

APS was later affiliated with Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) as a high school in 2005 and the Peshawar Board of Intermediary and Secondary Education in 2012.

Of its nearly 1,100 students, around 600 study from nursery to class five, while the remainder are in classes six to twelve.

Of the 110 teachers at APS, 55% are women. There are also around 40 Class-IV employees performing their duties. Every class is divided into three sections with 50 students in each. Warsak Road is supposedly one of the most secure localities in the city and the majority of government and public schools are located there.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2014.