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Swat girls come on roads to demand upgradation of school

By Our Correspondent 2017-04-22
MINGORA: Girl students along with their parents staged a protest demonstration in Saidu Sharif here on Friday to demand upgradation of their primary school to middle level in the far flung Asharbanr village of Charbagh tehsil.

It is to mention here that the village has only one girls primary school and a middle school for boys.

According to the villagers, about 200 girls could not continue education after passing the primary level.

`The nearest middle or high school is located in Charbagh which is nine kilometres away from the village. Icannot afford transportation charges on my daughter`s travel to get e ducation away from home,` said Paindamond, a village elder, who also participated in the protest.

The villagers said despite the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government`s claim of imposing education emergency in the province, no steps were taken to construct schools in their village.

`We requested our MPA and other elected representatives many times to construct middle school for girls and high school for boys for which we are ready to offer land, but got no positive response from them,` said Sabir Rehman, another protester.

Majority of boys skipped education after passing mid-dle school because of absence of a high school in the locality, forcing them to turn to livestock rearing, Shujat Khan, an elder, lamented.

The small girls said they loved education and that it was responsibility of the government to provide them such opportunities.

`I have passed primary school and want to get more education as I wish to become a teacher, but my father cannot afford to admit me to a school in Charbagh,` said Farhat Bibi.

The girls said they did not want to live in darkness anymore and urged the government to help them carry their mission forward.