PESHAWAR - The Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday submitted an adjournment motion in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for having a debate over the poor performance of government-run schools in the Secondary School Certificate examinations in the province.

The ANP parliamentary leader in the KP Assembly, Sardar Hussain Babak, submitted the adjournment motion in the Assembly Secretariat asking the chair to set aside the scheduled agenda for the house so as to have a general discussion over the overall poor performance, with a purpose to find out its root causes.

There are a number of questions in people’s mind after seeing the recently announced unsatisfactory results of government schools by the seven educational boards in the province, the resolution added.

From day-one, the PTI government in KP never missed an opportunity of taking credit of introducing drastic changes in the provincial educational system, applying new methods, and making reforms, besides declaring education emergency. However, the situation on the ground reflects another side of the picture, it explained.

Moreover, in the name of introducing reforms in the education sector, billions of rupees are being spent from national exchequer on advertisements giving an impression that such steps would have far reaching impact, the adjournment motion said. The recently announced results of the SSC have not only created a sense of unrest but also removed people’s trust from government-run educational institutions, which was regrettable, it added.

The motion said, “It is a very serious matter, thus, it is demanded to debate over this very important issue.” The PTI’s tall claims of placing provincial education system on the right path have so far proved just a joke with the people of the province.

Following the poor performance of government schools in the last SSC exams, the KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Atif Khan had taken a serious notice and decided to issue notice to some 174 government schools for showing poor performance.

In this regard, the teachers and administrations of the schools would be asked to explain why their students performed poorly, and further action would be taken against them if they did not file satisfactory replies. 

A few days back, the minister said that although the SSC results of the government schools were unsatisfactory, the overall standard of education has improved and the ratio of students getting A-Grade has increased.

FSO DEMANDS KP-FATA MERGER BEFORE ELECTIONS

The Fata Students Organisation (FSO) has expressed concern over the delay in implementation of the proposed reforms agenda in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and demanded merger of Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) before the general elections.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, FSO President Shaukat Aziz along with tribal youth leader Bilawal Afridi and other workers said that complete repeal of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) was inevitable to ensure provision of fundamental rights of the people of the tribal region. He criticised the incumbent federal government for allegedly following delaying tactics in the implementation of proposed reforms package in Fata, and termed it an attempt to deprive the tribal people of their constitutional, social, and political rights.

The people of Fata are equal citizens of this country who should be given all the fundamental rights, he demanded. He urged the federal government to implement the reforms to bring a positive change in the social fabric of the ignored tribal society.

Afridi rejected the government plan for the merger of Fata with KP in the next five years and demanded representation of Fata people in the KP Assembly before the 2018 general elections. Besides, reserved seats for Fata women should also be kept in the KP Assembly, he added.

Afridi also demanded that Fata’s share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award should be increased from three to five per cent, adding that the people of the tribal region were badly affected due to prolonged militancy.

Aziz urged the federal government to take practical steps for construction of five cadet colleges in various tribal agencies of Fata by following the announcement of former Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, who had made it during his visit to Fata last year.

Besides, the branches of medical and engineering colleges should also be opened in Fata, while practical measures were needed to rehabilitate and reconstruct the damaged educational infrastructure in the region. He also sought Fata’s share in projects under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Afridi announced that the tribal youth across Fata would fully participate in the upcoming protest sit-in on July 19 in Khyber Agency for the rights of the people of Fata under the leadership of MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi.

SAID ALAM KHAN