LANDI KOTAL: Scores of girls in Sheen Qamar area of Bara tehsil here have been denied their right to education due to prolonged closure of girls schools in the region.

Sources told Dawn that the government girls primary school in Shah Meen Kalay in Manz Kas could not be made operational despite completion of its construction over two decades ago as the education department has yet to appoint teaching staff.

Saadullah Jan, a local activist, said another girls primary school in Khawaja Jan Kali area also remained closed for last nine years over a land dispute between two families.

The sources said some girls students attended classes in the nearby Abdullah Shah boys middle school due to closure of both the girls schools.

A number of parents have pulled out their daughters from the boys school as co-education is considered a taboo in the tribal society, the sources said, adding hundreds of girls were deprived of education due to non-availability of separate schools for them.

Local elders and parents demanded of the authorities to not only open the two girls schools but also upgrade one of them to the middle grade.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar education board has established an examination centre for nearly 300 10th grade students at Warsak in Zakhakhel area of Tirah valley.

The students had complained about the education board officials not allocating them a separate hall for the annual examination starting on March 13.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020