LOWER DIR: Deworming campaign in public and private schools kicked off in the district here on Monday.

According to official sources at the elementary and secondary education department, 850,000 children aged 5 to 14 would receive strawberry flavoured chewable deworming tablets at schools throughout the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province till November 8.

According to the officials, the involved teachers and other health department workers had already received the appropriate training. The goal of the programme is to shield schoolchildren from stomach worms. In order to ensure the success of the campaign, the district education officer requested parents to work with educators and medical professionals.

A school teacher named Mohammad Imran informed this scribe on contact that the children were motivated prior to the drive. He claimed that although some of the schoolchildren were hesitant to take the tablets, they were persuaded.

TEACHERS’ DEMANDS: All Primary Teachers’ Association (APTA) announced to close all male and female government primary schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in favour of their demands.

Talking to local journalists at Timergara the APTA district president Qazi Habibullah, chairman Akhunzada Ubaidullah and general secretary Sirajud Din said that all government male and female primary schools would remain closed from Tuesday (today) for an indefinite period.

The APTA leaders said the KP government had failed to notify teachers’ up-gradation, end unnecessary tax deduction from salaries, regularise contract teachers and approve the eligibility of contract teachers for general provident fund (GP Fund) benefits.

LADY HEALTH WORKERS: Representatives of lady health workers (LHWs) complained that hundreds of their colleagues had been working without salaries for the past six months.

Talking to local journalists, they warned that if their salaries were not paid within a week, they would stop performing their official tasks. They stated that they were unable to support their families in the aftermath of the present inflation and were in dire financial straits as a result of their salaries being stopped.

ROAD OPENED: A road in Talash’s Dushkhel area that had been closed for the past year was successfully opened to traffic by a jirga of local elders. The road was closed due to a dispute among residents of Tauda China and Toor Baba that caused great hardships to commuters and local residents.

A jirga led by PTI welfare wing district president Mohammad Israr and others started efforts and convinced both the parties to open the road.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024