Education minister says closure of girl schools in Chitral will not be allowed

ISLAMABAD, March 27: The KP government on Thursday sprung into action against the anti-girls education move of the Aga Khan Education Service (AKES) Chitral. Talking to this correspondent over the phone from Peshawar, provincial minister for education Mohammad Atif Khan said stern action would be taken against all NGOs involved in exploitation of people in the name of education. He said that the NGOs who were out to lock the girls in backward areas like Chitral without any reason will be dealt with an iron hand, adding nobody will be allowed to play with the future of hundreds of children and that too little girls who were unable to move to far-flung areas for the sake of education. When he was apprised about the anti-girls education move of AKES officials in Chitral, he said closing a school through a well thought-out strategy by wilfully bringing down the required number was in no way a constructive move. The minister was informed about the move of the general manager who was believed to be dancing to the tune of a former general manager who had been shown the door by the AKES management after he was found involved in massive corruption. “Nobody will be allowed to shut down schools as we are not here to close down the educational institutions…the organizations who want to invest in the education sector are most welcome but your priority should be the most deprived areas,” he maintained. Meanwhile, to a question about the raid conducted on the examination halls in the town by deputy commissioner Chitral Muhammad Shoaib Jadoon along with gun-totting cops, he expressed displeasure, terming it an illegal action. “I myself go for random inspection of different examination halls but I don’t take any police personnel with me inside the hall…I just tell the invigilators on duty to check the students in my presence so that we can eradicate the menace of cheating,” he added. He said that if the deputy commissioner had resorted to any such action, he will be taken to task, as taking along the police personnel inside the examination halls is not allowed, and the deputy commissioner should visit the hall all by himself.]]>