PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will establish a higher secondary school for the visually impaired persons in the province.

This was stated by Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, special assistant to the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on social welfare, women development and special education.

She was speaking at a function held at the Government Institute for the Blind here in connection with the ‘White Cane Safety Day’ which is being observed today (Tuesday), according to a handout issued here.

The programme was held a day earlier because of Eidul Azha holiday break to promote awareness of the white cane, a tool used by people with visual impairment to safely navigate foot travel.

Dr Roghani also assured the special persons that she would make sure that two per cent quota of the special persons in government jobs was implemented.Dr Roghani said that drivers and traffic wardens should especially take care when they saw someone with a white cane. “There is a need of awareness among the public in this regard,” she said.

The CM advisor expressed grief at the lack of attention to special education and dearth of higher education institutions where the blind could study further.

She said it was unfortunate that there was not a single higher secondary school in the province and promised she would talk to the concerned officials to set up one such institution in the province.

She also expressed disappointment when she was informed that not a single public representative or government officer had visited the institution in the last seven years or so.

Dr Roghani directed the officials present at the function to bring all the issues and problems related to the institution in writing to her department so she could order their removal.

She distributed white canes to the blind persons and promised to provide around 2,000 such canes to the institute.