PESHAWAR: The opposition members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday came down hard on the elementary and secondary education department for closing down primary schools in the province with less than 50 students.

They insisted that the closure of schools would deprive the poor students of the opportunity to get education as they couldn`t afford to go to private schools.

The issue was raised by PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha through a calling attention notice during a session chaired by Deputy Speaker Dr Mehar Taj Roghani.

The mover said on one hand, the PTI government claimed to have declared education emergency in the province but on the other, it was closing down schools.

`The closure of schools is an act of sheer injustice meted out to the local residents as it will deprive their children of education,` he said.

Mr Nalotha wondered who would own the buildings afterthe closure ofschools.

He said such schools were constructed many years ago on the lands, whose possession had yet not been transferred from their owners to the education department.

The PML-N leader insisted the movewas meant to benefit private schools.

He asked how the students aged six or seven years would go to schools several kilometers away from their house after the closure of those located in their own areas.

He demanded the government withdraw the school closure decision in the best interest of the people.

Bakht Baidar Khan of the Qaumi Watan Party said primary schools were located far from each others in hilly areas and therefore, the students would have to cover even longer distances after the closure of schools with low enrolments.

He said the closing down of schools would increase the number of out-ofschool children.

Syed Jaffar Shah of the ANP said the education department should review its decision to shut schools in hilly areas.

Responding to the criticism of the lawmakers, elementary and secondary education minister Mohammad Atif Khan said the schools with less than 50 students would be closed down only in the areas where another primary school was available in a radius of two kilometers.

He said the schools with poor enrolments were a burden on the exchequer.

The minister claimed that the standard of education in government schools of the province had improved due to the government`s reforms, which prompted thousands of students to abandon private schools to enrol themselves in their public sector contemporaries.

However, PML-N`s Nalotha wondered if the quality of education had improved in government schools, then why theirteachers didn`t get their children enrol there instead of private ones. He said the minimum salary of a government teacher was Rs40,000 a month, which was very high compared to those employed by private schools but even then, the performance of the latter was better.

The education minister clarified his earlier statement saying the students of elite or reputed private schools hadn`t got admission to government schools and instead, those from substandard private schools `established in streets` did so.

The house also approved amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, for establishing offices for the district Naib Nazim in respective district and exempting the village and neighbourhood councils from holding elections on the reserved seats for religious minorities where non-Muslim voters are not registered.

`...in a village council or neighbourhood council, as the case may be, where non-Muslim voters do not exist in the electoral rolls of such village council or neighbourhood council, such council shall be deemed to be properly constituted without election to seats reserved for non-Muslims,` read the amendment incorporated in Section 27 of the law.

The amende d LG law tabled in the house by senior minister Inayatullah Khan was passed by the house with an amendment proposed by MPA Jaffar Shah.

The house also passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

The chair adjourned the session until Friday.