KH A R: Girls students in the remote Barang tehsil here staged a demonstration against lack of education facilities in their area.

The girls protested in Sharbati area, some 34 kilometers from Khar, the agency headquarters of Bajau, the other day.

Holding placards inscribed with their demands, the protesting girls gathered on the Khar-Barang road.

They chanted slogans against the local administration, education department and local lawmakers for ignoring the area in providing education facilities, especially to girls.

The protesters said Sharbati area was a populated hamlet of Barang tehsil, but the government had ignored it in education facilities. They said there were thousands of girls in the area who wished to get education, but they were unable to do so owing to absence of facilities.

They pointed out that there was only one primary girls school in the area, which, too, was functioning without a proper building, forcing over 200 pupils to take classes in the open.

They said their miseries were further increased during rain and hot weather. According to the students, the school wasn`t only facing absence of basic facilities, but also lack of teachers. They said there was only one teacher in the school against the sanctioned strength of three.

They deplored that on one hand the government was claiming to promote education in the tribal areas, but on the other, most areas of the agency, especially the hilly and backward parts, didn`t have even a school for girls.

The protesting girls said they were keen on getting education if they were provided with facilities.

Local people told reporters that despite being the most populated locality in the entire tehsil, Sharbati remained deprived of educational facilities. They said they had taken up the issue with the concerned officials of the education department, but to no ef fect.

They demanded of the local administration and education department to take tangible steps to ensure education facilities in the region.