Free education: Displaced students criticise govt, UoP over broken promises

Warned of protesting on streets if scholarships not granted.

PESHAWAR:

At least 37 students of University of Peshawar (UoP) from Waziristan bitterly criticised the varsity administration and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government for failing to provide free education. The displaced students had been promised free education and scholarships in 2014 by the government and university.

At a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, students demanded that the prime minister, army chief, governor and Higher Education Commission take note of the situation.

The displaced students, also members of the Waziristan Students Society (WSS), warned they would be compelled to take their protest out on the streets if the matter was not resolved at the earliest. They also threatened to discontinue their education.

WSS President Raheem Dawar said the government had announced scholarships and waived tuition fees for around 84,000 students displaced from North Waziristan due to Operation Zarb-e-Azb. “We have not received the promised assistance as yet,” said Dawar.

“The vice chancellors of various varsities had decided they would provide free education to those displaced from Waziristan but the decision hasn’t been implemented.” He said the 37 students at UoP were also entitled to receive an honorary amount of Rs5,000 per month which has not been paid either.

Raheem said, to make matters worse, the UoP administration demanded the students pay fees for the previous and current academic year. He said otherwise the students would not be allowed to continue studying there.

Most of the displaced students were from poor families and could not afford to pay the fees. “We lost our homes after the Pakistan Army carried out an operation in the area and had to live in tents.”

The WSS president pointed out two of his colleagues had already left the university and returned to Waziristan; they could no longer afford the cost of studying. “The remaining 37 students will have to face the same situation if the matter was not resolved urgently.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2015.