Education Woes in Bajaur

Attaur Rahman Toorkhel
In the tribal belt of Pakistan, Bajaur is the largest agency on the basis of Population. Total population of the area is 1.2 million. There are seven Tehsils in the whole agency. As the agency has great number of children, out of school. Approximately, 90000 thousands children are out of school. Those who are enrolled in the schools are facing different problems. Education situation in the area is dismal and miserable. Specially, Primary education is pathetic in the area. Primary schools are overburdened. There is plethora of problems in education sector. There are only three teachers and three rooms in each primary school, while the number of students in some schools is about 1000 to 1300. According to a survey report Govt Primary school Lagharai Mamund has 1350 students, GPS Inayat Qilla has 1250 students, and while in GPS Zagai Mamund has more than eleven hundred students. All these students in each school are being taught merely by three teachers. It is impossible for three teachers to control the strength above one thousand. It is totally against the standard education system. As Primary education takes more concern and attention, but basic education in the area has been ignoring by the authorities for a long time. The dismal education system in the area is slap on the faces of those, who have taken education in their slogans and first priority. Governor KPK has launched a school drive campaign in FATA, but all in vain; if there is scarcity of buildings and teachers. Fata Directorate of education is not paying its attention to tackle the issue. Parliamentarians of Bajaur are also aware of the issue, but they don’t want to educate the children of their constituencies. The area is going back to the Stone Age, if the issues of primary education were not solved. Government of Pakistan should come up with effective policies to educate the children of Bajaur. Fata secretariat should play its role to harness the situation. Governor of KPK and Additional Chief Secretary of the FATA Secretariat are required to provide additional teachers and class rooms in Bajaur agency’s government schools to combat the overcrowding. If we want to defeat terrorism and extremism from the region, we should educate, “out of schools children”.