War, militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 0.721 million students affected

The spate of militancy that initially hit tribal areas of the country and then gradually spread to the settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa put impact on all spheres of life, including the education sector. Over 7,21,392 students were affected in the six districts of the province out of which the ratio of females is 3,71,604.
The insurgents mostly targeted girls' schools and ordered both teachers and students, as per their version of Islamic teachings, to stay inside their homes or face the dire consequences. The break-up of female students affected by terror acts was 48,516 in Malakand, 94,538 in Swat, 50,178 in Buner, 18,469 in Shangla, 1,07,121, while in Dir Lower and in Dir Upper the number of affected students was 52, 782.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Schools and Literacy, Sardar Hussain Babak told APP that a total of 1,698 schools were partially or fully destroyed in the militancy and flood related incidents in the province. He said the education sector incurred maximum losses with the figures standing at rupees12 billion.
To cope with such an unprecedented situation, the government took measures on war-footing basis and set up tent-age schools and started evening shifts besides making alternative arrangements in the nearby schools. The worst affected districts in terms of damages sustained were Swat (Malakand Division), Shangla, Buner, Charsadda, Hangu, Upper and Lower Dir and Peshawar. In KP and Fata, over 1,600 schools were destroyed out of which 25 schools were blown up in Buner district, he added.
Nevertheless, Babak continued that the spirit and commitment of teachers and students for putting up strong resistance to the terrorists for continuing their education was laudable. It was an uncommon phenomenon to see bodies of slain human beings hanged at squares and its trauma continues to hound the minds of the locals, with children being suffering from various psychological diseases. Yet the positive aspect is that the valiant people of Malakand restarted their lives from scratch showing their resilience and courage against the dark-forces.
The minister said that foreign donors, local and international NGOs had reposed great trust in the present provincial government, against the claims of Transparency International, by increasing their funds for the repair and reconstruction of damaged schools.
Elaborating, he said Norwegian government donated rupees 450 million to KP government for the repair and reconstruction work in militancy-hit areas. Likewise, Saudi government pledged to provide furniture to 800 schools, while DFID provided 200 million pounds and European Union (EU) 35 million Euros. Moreover, USAID, SRSPO and NRC were equally forthcoming to assist in the reconstruction and repair work at various schools across the province that were damaged or destroyed by terrorists.
The provincial government in collaboration with the Norwegian government initiated Basic Education Improvement Project aimed at teachers' training and provision of equipment to schools. It accorded top priority to female education, which can be gauged by the fact that the ratio of projects initiated in the education sector alone stand at 70:30 with the former specified for female, he maintained.
Babak further said that the education budget was enhanced by 40 percent in the budget 2010-11 with a total outlay of rupees7.1 billion, which would be further enhanced in the upcoming fiscal year in view of its significance and the losses sustained by it. A total of 640 schools were damaged in various acts of terrorism in Malakand Division out of which 168 were fully destroyed, while 472 partially damaged. Around 60 schools were damaged in other districts of the province. The terrorist acts also put a serious dent upon higher education as Higher Education Commission shelved or postponed its several new projects in Fata due to the situation.
Expressing his views, Regional Director HEC, Farmanullah Anjum said that due to the prevailing law and order situation in the tribal areas, the commission was forced to postpone a host of new uplift schemes that include opening of first Fata University and its campuses in all seven agencies to facilitate local students not having access to the settled areas. The HEC had planned to open new campuses and colleges in Fata including agriculture campus in Hangu and North Waziristan Agency, University of Engineering campus in Bajaur and campus of Islamia College University in Parachinar, he maintained.
He said the biggest hurdle in female education was accessibility and the commission wanted to open Fata University to provide education to females at their doorsteps. The proposed varsity would have foreign scholarships that would give chance to Fata students to study abroad to bring gradual change in their respective areas.