Residents, students want Taloqan school rebuilt

TALOQAN (Pajhwok): Residents and students of the capital of northern Takhar province have called for the reconstruction of the Abu Usmani School, which was set aflame by unidentified arsonists three years ago.

Mohammad Saber, an eyewitness of the incident, recalled the school was set alight three years back. But so far, he regretted, no attention had been paid to its reconstruction.

He said: “Students of this school have been attending classes under the open sky for years. This is discouraging children from coming to school.”

He urged the government to take effective steps for the reconstruction of the school.

Meanwhile, students also asked the government to rebuild the school. Pupil Hasibullah complained: “We have been studying in the open in a place without boundary walls and gates. In the summer, we study in scorching heat and in the winter amid snowfall and rains.”

The Abu Usmani School, once a popular institution, has turned into a ruined place in the wake of attack. Its students have to contend with a host of challenges, said Naveed, another student.

He urged the government and donors to pay serious attention to rebuilding the school without further delay.

Meanwhile, Education Director Maulvi Hezbullah Mubashir said students had been shifted to an appropriate place where they continued to be taught.

He added efforts were underway to rebuild the Abu Usmani High School in coordination with some other institutions.

sa/mud