QUETTA, Jan 28: The standard of education was declining fast in Balochistan because the teachers seemed to be more interested in politics than in imparting education, observed participants of a seminar on Monday.

The seminar titled ‘Balochistan Youth Forum’ for advocacy and leadership development was organised by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).

The chief of the National Party, Dr Abdul Malik, said on the occasion that Rs19 billion out of the total Rs24bn allocated to the education sector had been spent on salaries of teachers and other staff.

He wondered as to whether they were carrying out their national duties with dedication and equipping students with skills required.

“It’s an irony that the trend of acquiring professional education is not popular here. The Pashtun and Baloch look down upon even the nursing profession,” he said.

The information secretary of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Agha Hassan, said the youth today felt deprived because of injustices being meted out to them, which in turn was triggering hatred among different nationalities.

The executive director of the CRSS, Imtiaz Gul, said it was necessary to equip the youth with good quality education and professionalism for the progress and prosperity of Balochistan. The province, he said, was facing a host of problems including lack of good governance, violation of merit and poor law and orders situation.