LOWER DIR: People of Katan Bala village in Talash said here on Friday that the government primary school in their village lacked drinking water, classrooms and washrooms.

Talking to mediapersons, the residents, including Maulana Noor Salim, Sultan Zeb, Mistri Khan and others, said that there were only three teachers and two classrooms for a total of 380 students at the government primary school, Katan Bala Dushkhel.

They said that scores of girls also studied at that school because there was no separate school for them in the village.

The area elders said that only three teachers had been teaching to a total of 380 children at the two-room school. They said that majority of the students had to sit under open sky due to lack of classrooms.

They pointed out that excavation work for marble in area above the school building also posed serious threat to the students’ health.

They demanded the higher authorities of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department to take notice of the matter.

They also demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to sanction a separate school for girls in the area and constructadditional classrooms in the existing primary school for boys.

The residents threatened to block the Timergara-Peshawar road if their demands were not accepted soon.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2022