Asif Ali Khan
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department has directed district education officers and school heads to identify dangerous and dilapidated school buildings and immediately suspend classes in such facilities.
The directive follows the recent collapse of a private school building in Peshawar’s Dir Colony in which over 30 students lost their lives a d scores of others were injured.
According to an official notification, teaching activities must be halted immediately in buildings declared unsafe, while alternative arrangements should be made in consultation with the relevant district education officers.
The notification further states that structural surveys of all schools identified as dangerous will be conducted by engineers from the Communication and Works (C&W) Department.
Nearly 37,000 Classrooms Found Dilapidated
Nearly 37,000 classrooms in government schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been found to be in a dilapidated condition, according to provincial education department sources.
The sources said the province has 34,784 government schools, with 19,224 classrooms requiring reconstruction and another 17,743 needing repairs. In total, 36,967 classrooms are reported to be in poor condition.
Meanwhile, the Private Schools Regulatory Authority (PSRA) reportedly does not maintain data on unregistered private schools and takes action against them when complaints are received.
A total of 11,542 private schools are registered in the province.
Director of Secondary and Higher Education Jafar Mansoor said 1,000 new classrooms were being constructed through Parent-Teacher Council (PTC) funds.
He added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has more than 34,000 government schools serving hundreds of thousands of students.
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