FOR many Afghans, quality education exists at the University of Oxford, thousands of kilometres away in the UK. But for 5th-grader siblings Gulalai and Janwali, Oxford is located just six kilometres from their home.

They get up early and hail down any passing vehicle to drop them near the Pak-Afghan Torkham border gate. Along with hundreds of others, they cross over the border in their orange school uniforms that serve as a sor1of visa. Sometimes, when the mighty Torkham gate is closed, the students must traverse steep terrain to reach their school.

This has now become routine for many.

Around 600 Afghan students cross every day to attend the Oxford Public High School, a private English-medium institute in the Bacha Maina area adjacent to the border. It was founded in 1995 to provide quality education to children residing on both sides of the volatile border area. Afghan students -who cannot afford admission in schools in Jalalabad city or cannot travel up to the Landi Kotal border town come from Daka, Garde Ghaus, Och Kot and Lund Kot areas. No matter what the policy issues between Islamabad and Kabul, qualityeducation is the first priority for these Afghan students.

Noor Said, a resident of Torkham locality, thought it appropriate to invest his money in building a private school that he dreamed would attract poor populations from across the border. His plan proved sound. As both owner and principal of the Oxford Public High School, he claims that his school has produced several batches of Afghan students who have gone on to study in that country`s universities, in fields such as engineering, information technology, medicine and agriculture, and who are now serving in positions of authority, including the national army. He adds that some graduates of his school also serve in the education and police departments in Kabul and other cities. The school, he believes, can help build a permanent bridge of peace between the neighbouring countries.

Momin Khan, a 7th grade student, explains: `My elder cousin, Watanyar, is a traffic police officer in Kabul. He graduated from this school while my close relative, Ahmad Wali, is serving in the army. He also studied here. We, the Afghan students, feel quite comfortable singing Pakistan`snational anthem. Our teachers are very talented. We share common culture, language and dress. In Afghan schools, the standard of education is very low, Pushto is the medium of instruction and about 14 subjects are taught, while in our school we study only seven subjects. The border authorities on both sides have relaxed visa and other restrictions for us.

Palwasha Bibi, a 6th grader, says she has never felt threatened by militants while coming from her home in the Daka area. She can play in the open grounds of the school and learns lessons in English and Urdu. Her father, who runs a shop in Jalalabad, drops and picks her up daily from the Torkham gate. `I enjoy my days in the Oxford Public High School,` she says. `I have learned English and Urdu poems.

The Taliban cannot threaten us because we get an education, which is a great strength, and once we grow up we shall establish everlasting peace in the region.

Said estimates that between 7,000 and 10,000 Afghan students have graduated from his institute over the last two decades. He says he has not received any direct threat from militants; nevertheless, he has raised the boundary wall around the school. He has also built additional classrooms to accommodate the ever-increasing number of students. `My cousin, Abdur Raziq, founded another institute in 2008, the Pak-Afghan School, next to my school, which attracted more boys and girls,` he says.

Adnan Khan, a10th-grade resident of Torkham, says his Afghan colleagues are brilliant in their studies. His school, he pledges, will become the first border school to forge unity and bring peace. `We hope our school plays a pivotal role in Pak-Afghan relations,` he maintains. `In a way, we are one soul in two bodies.

Ali Imran, a teacher, explains that when the Torkham gate is closed even the staff has difficulty reaching the school on time.

The occasional closure creates many issues for scores on both sides of the border. `We have written a letter to the Pakistani authorities to design a suitable badge that can be put up on the Afghan students` uniforms, which would enable them to be identifiable from a distance,` he says. `We fear militants might plant someone wearing one of our uniforms to cross over. We want to get the badges as a precautionary measure.

When the schools are closing for the day, students chant at the top of their voices: Pak-Afghan dostizindabad. The principal of the Oxford Public High School maintains that the `Pak-Afghan friendship` sloganeering is the invention of the students themselves. `We believe that our Afghan students are precious assets, and appeal to the government of Pakistan and donor agencies to extend financial assistance to us in order to provide more facilities,` he prays. `We want that the dream of permanent peace in the region to come true.