Nangarhar residents demand buildings for schools

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): In eastern Nangarhar province, 148 schools are without buildings, 350 schools have no boundary walls and 221 schools lack clean drinking water, provincial Education Department officials said on Monday.

Though teachers’ shortage issue has been 90 percent resolved, the issue of textbooks shortages remains unaddressed, the officials say.

Nangarhar residents demand the government take effective steps to resolve the issues of lack of buildings, water supply and other problems in these schools.

Khudai Noor, a resident of Momand Dara area of Achin district, told Pajhwok Afghan New that many school buildings had been destroyed during the previous wars and their students continued to study under the open sky.

“The students of these schools are usually sent back home when it is raining, the schools are closed during hot summer days or during windstorms. If someone walks nearby, he attracts the attention of students who cannot concentrate on their lessons,” Khudai Noor said.

He urged the Education Department to address issues like the lack of school buildings, textbooks shortages and other problems.

One of the schools that lack a building is Omed Abad School in the first district of Jalalabad city and its students are struggling with various other problems as well.

One of its students, who did not want to be identified, said the Education Department should construct a building for their school because all students were studying in tents.

The Education Department accepts that 148 schools lack buildings, 350 schools have no surrounding walls and 221 schools do not have clean and drinkable water supply facilities.

“Currently there are more than 800 schools in Nangarhar province where boys and girls study”, Mufti Habib Hazrat Haqqani, head of the provincial Education Department said.

By appointing 4,000 new teachers, the issue of teachers’ shortage has been 90 percent resolved, Haqqani added.

He said “right now there are a total of 905 schools in Nangarhar, 268 of them are high schools, 160 are middle schools and the remaining 477 are primary schools, where over 21,000 teachers and other staff work.”

He said the issue of textbook         s shortage had also been resolved to some extent, but some students still had no access to books and the issue had already been shared with the Education Ministry.

“In all of Nangarhar province,  there are 148 schools that have no, 350 schools have no surrounding walls, 191 schools have some petty problems, while in 221 schools students have no access to clean and drinkable water,” Hazrat Haqqani added.

He said the Ministry of Education had assured of solving all issues shared with it.

aw/ma

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