SHANGLA: The people of Bisham city here have demanded of the education department to make functional the newly-built girls high school, as hundreds of girls of the area usually quit education owing to absence of a high school for them.
They said that the school building was completed two years ago and handed over to the education department, Shangla, but so far it could not start classes there.
Shaukat Ali Shah, a resident, said that about 95 per cent girls of the area had grown up with less than matric education due to absence of high or higher secondary school.
He said that they were happy when building of the girls high school was completed, hoping that their daughters and sisters would now be able to get education up to high level. However, classes could not be started as yet at the only girls high school of Bisham town, he said.
Sources told this correspondent that the education department had been using delaying tactics, but it was expected that classes would be started this year.
Rifat Ali Shah, another resident, said that his two daughters studied till class 8th, but had to abandon education because of no higher classes in their school. When contacted, an official Ikramullah said that classes in the girls’ high school would be started in the next few months.
CHARCOAL FUND: Class-IV employees of the government primary schools have demanded payment of charcoal fund, which has been withheld for last three years.
Speaking at a meeting in Aloch on Monday, they said the government had neither provided them firewood nor charcoal fund in return for donating their precious lands to the education department for constructing primary schools.