Muhammad Nawaz Orakzai

KALAYA: The girls of Marghio Chan village in Orakzai tribal district are deprived of education despite existence of a school in the area.

Local people said a primary school building exists in Marghio Chan in Chapar Mishti, but girls can’t take any benefit from it.

Wali Jan, a local resident, told TNN that a primary school building was constructed in the village in 2010, but it remains non-functional even 10 years after its construction. He said the area elders have sent several requests to the Education Department in this regard, but the school could not be made functional and the area girls are deprived of education.

Malik Mehboob Khan, another local resident, said while talking to TNN that no basic education for girls even in this modern era is a source of grave concern for parents. He said most people in the area are poor and they struggle to arrange two-time meal for their children. In this situation, he said, it is impossible for the poor parents to arrange transport for their children to go to school in far off areas.

Malik Mehboob said it is beyond comprehension why the school remains non-functional despite availability of a proper building which can be utilised after necessary renovation.

Muhammad Umar, who lives in the village, said like any other parents, the people of Marghio Chan also want to see their girls educated. He said education is even more important for girls, but he doesn’t know why the girls of his village are facing this injustice. He said there cannot be any development or betterment without educating the girls.

The people of the area have called upon the government and Education Department to make the local girls primary school functional so that their girls could also get education like girls in other parts of the country. They said promotion of education was on top of the agenda of the sitting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, but this agenda will remain incomplete when the far off areas like Orakzai remain deprived of basic education for girls.

The Education Department officials were not available for comments on the issue.