By Fazal Khaliq
MINGORA: The residents of Bandai village in Khwaza Khela tehsil have demanded of the government to upgrade primary schools to middle level for both girls and boys in the area.
They said that the students, who passed primary school, faced difficulties to walk about four kilometres to reach the nearest middle school.
They said that most of the residents of Bandai were poor and could not afford to arrange transport service for their children to reach school.
“There are more than 1,100 households in our village. About 800 households are very poor. They cannot afford to educate their children in private schools so they send their children to government schools but both the schools for boys and girls are primary,” said Hussain Ahmad.
The villagers said that the nearest school for boys was about two kilometres away. They said that the nearest middle or high school for girls was about four kilometres away.
“Few well-off families send their daughters to private schools while some send them to the government girls high school in Langar village as they have arranged transport service for them. The girls belonging to poor families are deprived of education as their parents can neither afford to send them to private schools nor can arrange transport for them,” said Mohammad Nisar Khan, a social activist and teacher in Bandai village.
The villagers said that the girls could not walk for four or five kilometres alone as the way from their village to the high school was not safe. Girls in the village said that they wanted to get education but could not walk to the high school located at a distance of about four kilometres.
MPA Sardar Khan, when contacted, said that he raised the issue with chief minister but he was not given funds for developmental projects as he belonged to the opposition party, PML-N.
“However, I will raise the issue in the assembly. If I get the funds approved, I will either upgrade both the primary schools to middle level or construct new schools in the village,” he pledged.
