BAJAUR: The residents of Barkholozo town in Mamond tehsil on Saturday expressed concern over the shortage of teachers and classrooms in a government primary school in the area.

Talking to reporters, they said only three teachers were appointed to the school with over 800 students enrolled. They said the teachers were unable to mange such a huge number of students.

The residents said shortage of teachers was the clear violation of the provincial government’s policy of maintaining one-teacher-40-student ratio in schools.

Hazrat Khan, a local resident, said having only three teachers for more than 800 students was a joke with their children.

Ahmad Khan, another resident, said the officials of education department during their visit to the school last year had promised appointing more teachers to the school and constructing two additional classrooms within two months, but to no avail.

The residents said the local education department had launched a second shift in the school through the parent-teacher council last year to divide the students.

However, they said the second shift was done away with after a month due to unknown reasons.

They also complained that two of the total five classrooms in the school had long been in bad shape, forcing students to attend classes in the open.

The residents demanded of the provincial education minister, secretary education and the Bajaur deputy commissioner to look into the matter.

They also warned of staging a protest demonstration outside the local education department’s office in Khar if their demands were not met within two weeks.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2023