KHAR: The education department has not provided free textbooks to government schools in Bajaur Agency and the students have been attending schools without books since start of the new academic session in April.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, students of various schools in the region showed concern over the loss of their precious time and non-seriousness of the education department to provide them free textbooks.

“We are just visiting our schools and sitting there without any purpose in the absence of books,” said Sibgatullah, an 8th class student of government high school Inayat Kallay.

Other students said that they were disappointed at the unavailability of textbooks as the management of their schools had promised to provide free text books by end of April.

“We were assured of provision of free textbooks, but unfortunately we have not received any books from the education department as yet,” said Gul Ahmad, a student of government high school Khar.

Nisar Khan, a senior teacher of government high school Badan Mamond and ex-president of Senior Teachers Association also expressed his concern over the delay in provision of textbooks.

“The undue delay in supply of free textbooks is a matter of serious concern for both students and teachers,” he said.

The tribesmen, parents of the students and social activists of the tribal agency have demanded of the authorities concerned to take the matter seriously and supply textbooks to all schools in the region.

Talking to Dawn, they said that on the one hand the government was claiming steps for the improvement of education in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, on the other it had failed to provide textbooks to the students in the region.

“It seems officials at the Fata Secretariat are not interested in promotion of education in tribal areas,” said Hanifullah Jan, agency coordinator of the Society for Protection of Rights of the Child.

The tribal elders have urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to take serious notice of the matter and ensure provision of textbooks to students in the agency.

When contacted, a senior official in the education department, Bajaur, said that supply of textbooks from Peshawar had just started and the books would be given to all the government schools in the agency after completion of the checking process.

“We have asked the principals, headmasters and head teachers to bring the lists of students in respective schools to the office of agency education officer till Monday so we could start distribution of the books,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2014