GARDIZ (PAN): Authorities in Paktia said the vital education sector was moving ahead with tandem but the province was facing lack of schools and educational institutions.
Eng. Mehrabuddin Shaffaq, director provincial education department said education progressed very well with enrollment of thousands of new students during the past decade, admitting that the sector could not be developed as it was needed.
There are 340 schools and other educational institutions including eight religious Madrassas, a mechanical and agriculture vocational high schools along with another institute with different fields where 180,000 students were getting education. Of them, 45,000 are girls’ students. Shaffaq said as many as 169 schools did not have buildings, adding the authorities were planning to build 69 school buildings during the current fiscal year.
Going into details, Shaffaq said there was a pedagogical college in the province with five of its branches in Zurmat, Ahmad Abad, Sayed Karam, Zazi Arub and Samkani districts. There are hundreds of students in the college, he added.
Having two faculties, there is a university in the province founded in 2004. After, relocating the Ariana University from Peshawar, its faculties reached to five including medical, agriculture, engineering, education and law and political science. Currently, 4,000 students are getting education in the university with 300 of them are girls’ students.
Teachers and Students:
Noor Gul, a teacher in the Gardiz city said there had been many improvements in education sector but nothing had been done for improvement of teachers’ lives. The land allocated for the teachers for building houses is still could not be distributed because of tussle between residents and the government.
Munir Ahmad, a student in the vocational school said the education process had been improved but the sector still face problems in some areas because of absence of professional teachers and laboratories in schools.
Abullah Khan, a student of central high school of the Samkani district said private schools and universities were a great help in education sector where more students get education. Getting education in private schools help pass the entry test to higher education institutions easily, he added.
People:
Residents in Paktia admitted considerable improvement in education sector but still more is needed to be bone to improve the sector. Mutabar Khan, a tribal elder from Wazy Zadran district said that Wazy, Shwak and Gerd districts have only one high school that too was facing lack of teaching staff. He went on to say that the school did not receive teaching materials on time.
Noorullah, a resident of Sayed Karam district said most of the girls and boys’ students were going to school but the far flung districts’ schools have no buildings for schools.
Intellectuals:
Dr. Mohammad Naim Ahmadzai, a civil society activist in Paktia said education was promoting well in comparison to a number of other provinces. He said that in a number of remote districts, children were deprived of education. For addressing the problems, the government should open dormitories in districts centers to provide them with education.