MANSEHRA: The district administration has claimed there`re no more ghost schools in Kohistan.

`In the past, there existed ghost schools in our district and that teachers used to habitually remain absent from duty but regularly received salary. However, things have changed altogether now. Almost all schools are functional with teachersandother staff doing duty regularly,` Kohistan district education officer Riasat Khan told reporters in Dasu on Monday.

The DEO said the department was taking all possible measures to ensure provision of quality education to the children across the province and that the time was not far away when every child would be enrolled in local schools.

He said in the past, funds allocated for the welfare of schools and used by the respective parent-teacher councils were misappropriated but currently, the said funds were being spent fairly and transparently under the supervision of special teams.

`Every functional school is getting Rs1.1 million from PTA funds to ensure availability of water at schools and build or repair lavatories and boundary walls.

`Things are gradually improving,` he said.

Riasat said his department couldn`t check irregularities in the reconstruction of schools destroyed by the 2005 earthquake as doing so was the responsibility of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority.

he said absenteeism among schoolteachers had come to end in the district due to the department`s strict measures and termination of absentees.

`We have been striving to bring every child of the district to school and need the support of local people, especially that of clerics, for the success of such efforts,` he said.

Meanwhile, member of Bahraini parliament Sheikh Adil Abdul Rehmanal Muhda visited Karori and addressed a public meeting there.

He said Pakistan was a true fortress of Islam and therefore, it should take the initiative to bring Muslim countries closer.

The Bahraini parliamentarian said his country attached great importance to its relations with Pakistan and that the people of his country had great regard for Pakistanis. `We, the Bahrainis, are proud of Pakistan and pray for its prosperity,` he said.

Muhda announced the establishment of a hospital and six dispensaries, launch of a water supply scheme and development of a road in the area.

Pakistani-Bahraini businessmen from Karori Khan Mohammad Tanoli and Abdul Rasheed Khaksar and former MPA Zargul Khan also spoke on the occasion.-Correspondent