Moalims

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak has flayed the government for closing 15 girls colleges being run by the Frontier Education Foundation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In a statement issued here on Friday, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf had adopted ‘anti-education policies’ in the province by closing 15 colleges. He said that closure of colleges had affected future of more than 10,000 girls and deprived around 500 women teachers of their jobs.

He said that the government, on one hand, had declared so-called education emergency while, on the other, educational institutions were being closed down. He said the province needed more schools and colleges keeping in view the population growth.

Mr Babak said that the court had given verdict in favour of the foundation, but despite that the colleges run by it had been closed in Peshawar, Haripur and Swabi districts. He vowed that the ANP would take up the issue at all forums.

He said that the previous ANP-led coalition government in the province had allocated 70 per cent of the budget for education sector and several colleges had been upgraded. He said that it was the state responsibility to provide free education up to matriculation level.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2015