LANDI KOTAL: The Khyber Agency political administration has invited applications for admission to a newly established private school in the militancy-ravaged Bara subdivision.

Named after the founder of Islamia College Peshawar, Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan School and College will start its classes for 6th, 7th and 8th grades besides first year in mid-September.

The administration has fixed large size banners at prominent locations in Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal alongside at the entrance of Khyber House, offices of political administration in Peshawar, to attract attention of students.

A statement issued from Khyber House said that the school would be the first of its kind in Fata, having a school and a college simultaneously as a pilot project.

`A state-of-the-art educational institution has been endorsed and affiliated with Lawrence College Ghora Gali.

The Lawrence College will be providing all administrative support to the new institute,` said the statement.

Besides Lawrence College, other reputed educational institutions like Aitchison College Lahore, Cadet College Hasanabdal and Burn Hall School Abbottabad will be members of the Board of Governors of the new Bara school with governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as its chairman and additional chief secretary Fata, political agent of Khyber, secretary of Social Welfare Fata its members.

Political Agent Khalid Mehmud told Dawn that alongside inviting applications for new admissions, a retired colonel of army had been made the principal of the new school while recruitment of the teaching staff was in progress.

He said that senior members of the academic staff of Lawrence College would also help in imparting teaching skills to the new teachers of the school. `The project will be purely run on self-help basis so that the institution does not rely on official assistance in future for running its affairs, he said, adding that monthly fee collected from students would be spent on repair, maintenance and expansion of the school alongside paying salaries of the teaching and clerical staff.

The official said that the idea of establishing a quality educational institution in Khyber was conceived after the administration conducted a survey to know as to how many students from the region were going to Peshawar and other major cities for getting education in private schools.

He said that the survey found at least 700 to 800 students from only Jamrud daily going to private schools in Peshawar. He said that the school would be established on a 100-kanal near Dogra hospital in Bara. The land was donated by local residents for establishment a model school some 12 years ago.