For female literacy: Govt to set up 1,000 community schools

Local communities will provide land; govt will provide staff and other equipment, says minister .

PESHAWAR:

To boost female literacy rate in the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to establish 1,000 community schools for girls in all 25 districts.

However, education experts have expressed concerns about the decision, saying such projects have failed in the past due to lack of funds.

For accessibility

In comparison to boys, very few girls in the province attend school, said Minister for Education Muhammad Atif Khan. “Girls do not go to schools due to various reasons, one of them being accessibility.”



According to Atif, parents in rural areas do not allow their daughters to go to distant areas for schooling and because of this reason the government has decided to establish community schools in villages to make education accessible for girls.

Atif said under this scheme, local communities will provide land for schools while the government will arrange teachers and equip the school buildings. “Work on the project will start from the new academic year,” said the minister.

He added the community school programme will first be initiated in Peshawar and then expanded to other districts. “The number of schools per village will be decided as per the requirements of the area and all facilities would be provided as we do not lack funds,” said Atif.

Expecting lasting benefits

Experts in the field of education have urged the government to ensure the scheme is a long-term one.

Talking to The Express Tribune, K-P Peace Education and Development Foundation Programme Manager Tariq Hayat Khan appreciated the initiative and said it will increase female literacy in underdeveloped districts. “The government should work on turning it into a long-term project as such schemes have been discontinued in the past due to lack of funds.”

According to Tariq, in 2004, the government launched a similar project to establish primary schools for girls in villages. Under the project funded by Unicef, hundreds of schools were set up in various districts, but the scheme was wrapped up later due to lack of funds.

“Such projects that are initiated by non-profit organisations last only for a few years and are soon shelved, putting children’s education at stake,” said Tariq.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2015.