MANSEHRA: Three government schools and a seminary destroyed by the recent flash floods in Manoor valley here are awaiting rehabilitation for the resumption of classes.

The Government High School, Mahandri, two government primary schools in Banda Manoor and Kundian Manoor and Madressah-i-Tahfeezul Quran were washed away by floodwaters on August 25.

Acting principal Mohammad Ajmal said the school should be rehabilitated on war footing for the resumption of classes and if that didn`t happen, students would continue to suffer.

Kaghan Development Authority chairman Dr Aimal Zaman said though tents had been provided to calamityhit schools and seminary, time and resources would be required for the resumption of classes.

Former Mahandri nazim Mushtaq Khan said the Manoor valley suffered massive damage to public property after a local stream burst its banks.

He said the monsoon rains coupled with the melting of glaciers destroyed bridges, roads, 12 micro hydropower projects, three schools, 30 shops,17 vehicles,16 houses, 10 watermills and many mosques.

The former nazim said eight nomads living in tents were also taken away by the flash floods.

CONSORTIUM OF VARSITIES: Higher education minister Kamran Khan Bangash on Thursday said the government had planned to make a consortium of all 36 public and private universities in the province to promote research-based education.

`Universities promote research and technology for socioeconomic development,` the minister told a conference on `emerging trends in bioinformatics and biosciences` at the Hazara University here on Thursday.

Educationists, faculty members and researchers attended the conference in large numbers.

The minister said the government wanted to develop a research-promoting curriculum, which could be taught in public and private universities simultaneously.

`We [Pakistan] lag far behind other countries in science and technology education, so efforts are being made to provide universities with modern facilities for the purpose,` he said.

The minister urged universities to go for student exchange programmes with their international contemporaries for own development.

Higher education secretary Dawood Khan told the conference that he was happy to learn that over 400 international researchers and scholars got themselves registered for the event and 300 of them would present their papers.

`The government has prioritised the promotion of education and health sectors, which hold the key to our development,` he said.