More than 100 education centers in Laghman have no buildings

MEHTARLAM (Pajhwok): The Education Department director for eastern Laghman province says 88 schools, 13 religious seminaries and three branches of the Teacher Training Center have no buildings in the province.

Maulvi Shah Jehan Sajid told Pajhwok 169 schools had no boundary walls in the province.”There are 277 government schools and 88 of them have no buildings of their own.” He said more than a dozen religious seminaries were without buildings as well.

He added that the educational centers lacking buildings were operating in mosques, tents and under trees.

Sajid also said nearly 2,000 new teachers were required in Laghman province to meet their shortage.

He said: “We need 1,957 new teachers in Laghman to be appointed through open competition. We request the central administration to pay special attention to Laghman province in this regard in order the existing problems can be solved.”

The education director said he had discussed these problems with the Ministry of Education and he had been assured the problems would be resolved.

Students of schools that have no buildings ask the government to solve their problems.

Samiullah, a student of Andar High School in Badpakh district, told Pajhwok: “Our school has no building and has 560 students who all study under the open sky in hot summers and cold winters.”

He asked the government to construct a building for their school so that they could be protected from the sun and rain during their lessons.

Mahboobullah, a 7th grade student at Poheen Middle School in Alishang district, said: “Since years, we have been studying in the village’s mosque, but we often face many problems due to continuous rains. We request the government to provide us with other facilities in addition to a building”.

A number of tribal elders and civil society activists also called on the government to pay more attention to the province’s education sector.

Murad Manali, a teacher at Roshan private university in Laghman, told Pajhwok it was the government’s responsibility to provide required facilities to the citizens in area of education.

He said no significant work had been done in the field of education in Laghman during the past 20 years and no proper environment for education could be provided in Mehtarlam and remote areas. “We want the current government to find solution to this problem as soon as possible.”

Tribal elder Malak Abdul Qadir of the Qala Taki area of Qarghai district, said that there was a school in their area named Sultan Wais Baba, but it had no building.

He added: “Local residents donated money and made wooden shelters for the students of Sultan Wais Baba School to protect them from the summer heat.”He asked the government to construct a building for their school.

Obaidullah Niazi, a resident of Sangra area of Alingar district, said no noteworthy work to develop the education in Laghman could be done due the past wars. As peace has been restored, the current government should pay more attention to the education sector’s development, he demanded.

Religious scholar Maulvi Abu Bakkar Azizi said knowledge has a special place and value in Islam and governments should pay special attention to educational centers.

He said: “”The acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every man and woman. About 100 educational centers in Laghman have no buildings. The government should pay full attention to this issue and provide all facilities to the students.”

Civil society activist Engineer Ahmad Riaz told Pajhwok that a society could prosper when its girls and boys were equipped with literacy skills and its educational environment was free from all kinds of challenges. He added good plans could be made for the future generations with the blessing of education.

According to the Department of Education, there are a total of 277 schools in Laghman province, in which nearly 229,000 girls and boys are studying.

Due to the past wars in the country, many sectors, including the education sector, suffered as a result.

Although the war has ended and the caretaker government is paying more attention to the education sector, it may take years for this sector to compete with the world and neighboring countries.

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