PESHAWAR, Oct 14: The federal government has refused the funds that President Asif Ali Zardari had promised two years ago for constructing 1,000 primary schools, most of them in the militancy-hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sources in the education department said.

“The federal government went back on its words after the devolution of the education department,” they said.

They recalled that following President Zardari's announcement, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government developed a plan to construct these schools in areas facing shortage of primary schools, especially due to destruction of school buildings by militants.

Education department officials agreed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government lacked the financial resources needed for constructing the 1,000 schools.

According to them the provincial government could construct only up to 200 schools a year.

Called the Crash Programme for Establishment of One Thousand Primary Schools, the project was mentioned in the federal government's Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for fiscal year 2009-10. It was also part of the Mid Term Development Framework (MTDF) drawn to improve access to education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially at primary level.

In the light of the President's pledge, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak had repeatedly promised the construction of these schools on the floor of the provincial assembly and in their public meetings, terming the project 'a big achievement' of the ANP-led government.

“The provincial government lacks the capacity to build such a large number of schools,” officials in the E&SE department told Dawn .

Some officials questioned the view that the provincial government had the capacity to build 200 schools a year, saying it had not been able even to reconstruct the schools damaged in the 2005 earthquake, destroyed by militants and those washed away in the last year's floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We have asked the provincial government to raise this issue in the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) and press the federal government to fulfill its promise,” the education department officials said.

They said that a total of Rs3.13 billion was estimated for construction of the schools and the provincial government had agreed to provide the land free of cost for the project.

Rural areas, girls' education and districts hit hard by militancy such as Malakand division were to be given preference in the federal government's project.

Of the 1,000 schools, it was decided to construct 281 primary schools in Malakand division, including 77 in Swat and 75 in Buner – of them 51 for boys and 101 for girls; and 34 in Lower Dir, 10 for boys and 24 for girls. Swat, Buner and Lower Dir are the districts most-affected by militancy.

Similarly, 54 primary schools (both for boys and girls) were to be built in Abbottabad, 62 in Bannu, 13 in Chitral, 60 in Charsadda, 53 in Dera Ismail Khan, 21 in Karak, 32 in Kohat, 22 in Kohistan, 45 in Mansehra, 98 in Peshawar, 78 in Mardan, 33 in Nowshera, 52 in Swabi, 24 in Haripur, 35 in Lakki, 14 in Tank, 12 in Battagram, 21 in Upper Dir, 24 in Hangu and 37 in Shangla.