17 Laghman schools operate in rented buildings

MEHTARLAM (Pajhwok): Seventeen state-run schools, three madressas and a teacher’s training centre have been operating in rented buildings in eastern Laghman province, an official said on Wednesday.

Education Director Mawlavi Shah Jahan Sajid told Pajhwok Afghan News due to the non-availability of buildings these educational institutions operated in rented houses.

He said: “I agree that the education process in rented houses is slow and lacks many facilities, but it must be said that these rented houses are the legacy of the previous regime, I regularly recommended to the Education Ministry and relevant organisations to construct buildings for schools.”

Some tribal elders and students of these schools have asked the IEA government to construct buildings for their schools in their localities instead of renting houses.

Mohammad Sharif Akbari, the resident of Gamin locality in Mehtarlam, said in the past government a house was rented or the girls students of this area and now they were faced with problems.

“The Gamin Girls Intermediate School has now yard, it is situated in the middle of houses and has 22 teachers and 1,200 students, we want the government to immediately construct building for this school.”

Bibi Asema, the student of Afghan Lam Primary School in the Alingar district, said they studied in a rented house where the toilets were below the standard, there is no drinking water system and the education process is affected by hot and cold weather.

In Laghman, 104 state-run schools were without buildings, while 169 schools were without retaining walls.

nh