Hundreds of ghost schools haunt KP’s tribal districts

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has sought a detailed report from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on the existence of 418 ghost schools in the merged tribal districts.

Sources said that these schools have been non-functional for many years, depriving millions of children of their basic right to education.

According to the documents obtained by HUM News English, the highest number of closed schools is in South Waziristan, where 160 schools are non-operational, followed by 80 in Kurram, 67 in North Waziristan, 77 in Bajaur and 25 in Khyber district.

The documents reveal that the non-functional government schools include 246 girls’ schools and 172 boys’ schools.

According to sources, the reasons for the closure of these schools are security issues, territorial disputes, absence of staff and lack of facilities.

The sources in the KP Education Department told HUM News English that updated reports of non-functional schools have been sought from all the district education officers of the merged tribal districts.

They also said that actions have been initiated against ghost teachers and education officers, and 183 schools have been made functional so far.

They said that the deputy commissioners at the district level have been empowered to monitor the government educational institutions.