Tribal schools need teachers

The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), now merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), have for long suffered from backwardness, insecurity and prolonged governmental neglect.

Among all sectors, education has been the worst affected. Even today, government educational institutions in the tribal districts, particularly in Bajaur district, face an acute shortage of teachers.

Most of the primary schools in the tribal districts have only one teacher, while in a few fortunate cases there are two or, at the most, three teachers. Under such circumstances, the very concept of quality education becomes impossible. A single teacher is burdened with teaching multiple classes and subjects, along with several administrative duties. This directly and adversely affects the academic performance of students.

In contrast, a rationalisation policy has been implemented in other districts of KP, under which one teacher is appointed for every 40 students. This policy is yet to be enforced in the tribal districts even though the need there is far greater. These areas have endured terrorism and conflict-like conditions for nearly two decades that have severely damaged the education system.

In Bajaur alone, thousands of teaching posts remain vacant. In such a situation, advertising only 50 or 60 vacancies cannot resolve the problem. Similarly, the recently announced recruitment of 10,000 tempo-rary teachers by the government is also not a sustainable solution. Instead of relying on temporary measures, the government should immediately implement the rationalisation policy in the tribal districts. Such short-term steps do not address the root cause of the problem. There is an urgent need to give education due priority, and declare a comprehensive educational emergency in the region.

The KP chief minister belongs to a tribal area, and people expect him to deliver on this count. He should ensure the imme-diate implementation of the rationalisation policy in all tribal districts. This will help resolve the severe shortage of teachers, and provide respectable employment opportunities to thousands of unemployed youth. In this way, two of the major issues — education and unemployment — will get largely addressed simultaneously. The war-affected regions within the province need to be placed on the path of knowledge, development and, indeed, a brighter future.

ATTAUR RAHMAN TOORKHEL

BAJAUR