KHYBER AGENCY - Since long a number of government boys’ high schools are functioning without its heads as its headmasters and principals have not been attending their duties regularly, tribesmen complained.
Talking to this scribe here Sunday, dwellers of the area said that the irregular headmasters and principal of Government Boys High School (GBHS) Landi Kotal, Khar Ghali, Mohammad Kalley, Kam-Shelman, Tod Kamr and Parang Dara because majority of them were attending their official duties twice or thrice in a month and without any head, an institution neither can run smoothly nor can produce satisfactory results that has made their children’s future bleak.
The 9th grade students of Government High School Landi Kotal said that after taking charge on 21-5-2014, the new Principal has attended his duty only for three days in the last six months. They have been left on the mercy of in-charge teacher who was unable to utilize authority on behalf of the principal. One of the teachers of the school seeking anonymity said that the mentioned principal has been taking classes in a private University (Sarhad University) in Peshawar.
Rabiullah, a resident of Pased Khel, the bordering area of tehsil Landi Kotal and uncle of two students of GBHS, Khar Ghali while expressing the misery said that the only government high school in area is the ray of hope for their bright future but ironically the headmaster of the school is unpunctual and randomly attend his duty. “We are poor enough to bear the travelling expenditure of our children to enrol them eight kilometres away in private schools in Landi Kotal”, he regretted.
Scores of complaints have been lodged with Agency education office, Jamrud but tono avail, tribesmen remarked. They also objected that all the above missing headmasters are senior and grade 17 or 18 teachers; therefore the Agency Education Officer (AEO) is reluctant to take action against them.
All Teachers Association, Landi Kotal President Sharifullah Afridi came hard on the absent senior government teachers and said, the irresponsible attitude of the headmasters is the main cause of maximum dropouts of students of the schools. He alleged that the absentees’ headmasters and Principal only assure their presence on time of annually collection of fund from the students to embezzle and then disappear. He argued that when the head of institution is irregular, the rest of the staff members will also not execute their duties honestly and the students are the one who will suffer. He stressed upon the authorities to take strict action and make sure presence of the senior teachers in schools and shape the institutions beneficiary for the poor students.
When the Agency Education Officer (AEO) Atiqur Rehman was contacted over the matter he said that he had reported the same issue earlier to directorate of education FATA and apprised the relevant officers with regard to absenteeism of high schools principals. He also admitted the fact that one of the principals was teaching in a private institution and said he (principal) was not performing his official duty at school.
“I have completed my work pertaining to send a detailed report to authorities concerned and now it is their duty to take action over the matter”, he remarked.