CHITRAL: Speakers at a function here on Monday said that balance between modern scientific education and theology would promote harmony in the society.

The function was held to distribute scholarships among the position holders of matriculation examinations in the district.

Scholarships to top six position holders of matriculation examination have been awarded by Qari Faizullah, the president of a Karachibased seminary, for the last 13 years. Prizes were also reserved for Kalash students.

District naib nazim Maulana Abdul Shakoor, acting district education officer Ihsanul Haq, tehsil nazim Maulana Mohammad Ilyas and Khateeb of Shahi Masjid Maulana Khaleequz Zaman addressed the function.

They said that religious scholars were not opposed to modern education rather they were supporting it wholeheartedly.

They said that the scholarships awarded to students every year by a religious scholar dispelled the impression that clerics differentiated between modern education and religious one.

The speakers said that special prizes to Kalash students showed the catholicity of the outlook of religious scholars.

They said that Qari Faizullah also contributed to development of English medium schools and introduction of information tech-nology in the district.

The speakers said that a proper balance between modern scientific education and theology would bring harmony in the society. They said that quality of education greatly improved in Chitral and it could be substantiated by the fact that recently the district was declared second in the province by the government for its quality education.

Scholarships were awarded to Naseer Ahmed of Broze Public School for securing first position, Mukhtar Ahmed of Frontier Corps Public School for second positions and Sheema Syed Jalal for getting third position among the private sector schools.

In the public sector schools, the prizes were grabbed by Zubair Ahmed of Government High School Mori Lusht, Shahnaz Ahmed of Government Girls High School Reshun and Mohsina Bibi of the same school for first, second and third positions respectively.

The prize for the Kalash students was grabbed by Gule Sahar of Government High School Bumburate.

Shields were also given to the principals of the respective schools.

KILLED: A student was killed here on Monday when his automatic gun went off accidentally near an artificial pond, construct for hunting ducks.

An official of Chitral police identified the deceased as Faheemud Din.

He was student of software engineering at International Islamic University, Islamabad.