Local schools are running out of places to accommodate children from displaced familiesChildren of school-going age are amongst the tens of thousands of displaced people who have taken refuge in Dera Ismail Khan on the edge of the tribal areas in northwest Pakistan.
Local schools are running out of places to accommodate these extra students, adding to innumerable problems to the turbulent frontier.
There are no camps for the people who fled their homes to escape the ongoing fighting between Pakistani security forces and Taliban militants in the nearby lawless South Waziristan region.
As a result, many have squeezed into relatives' homes. Others are renting accommodations at steep prices, or are living in cramped makeshift quarters in various parts of the impoverished city.
Relief goods are often not enough, leading to scuffles between weary people waiting in long queues, and at times, compelling police officers on duty to resort to forceful swings of their long bamboo sticks to scatter the unruly crowds.
A spokesman of the district government told reporters on Sunday that 16 schools had been opened to provide education facilities to the displaced children in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. He said 2,329 students had so far been admitted in the schools.
Masud ur Rehman, a school teacher who fled from South Waziristan three weeks ago and has volunteered to teach the displaced children, said that the traumatized children were very eager to enrol in local schools, but added that there were no signs of any schools for them yet.
‘A lot of children come, during the first time as well as during the second time. They enrol themselves, then go away,’ Rehman told Reuters Television.
Some local schools have agreed to take in the displaced children in the second shift, after regular classes are over.
Children have been flocking to these schools to get enrolled for the evening classes.
‘When we came from above, we found that there were no arrangements for our education here. Our books were left back at home. The government should make arrangements for us,’ said Asif Raheem, a student in Class 9 in his village in South Waziristan.
Raheem's family, like the families of many other students, suffered greatly during their flight to safety.
‘All of them have told us stories about the conditions under which they left home. They say they had to flee in such a hurry that they left their books and everything else behind, and just managed to save their heads. Not a single one of them has books,’ said Tariq Zaman, another displaced man who has volunteered to teach the refugee children.
‘Now it is the duty of the government to find a way to provide them with books and places in which to study. The numbers are likely to increase,’ Zaman added.
The Pakistan army went on the offensive in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on October 17, aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants who stepped up their war on security forces in 2007.
The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities across the country.
With the government having its hands full dealing with the fast-deteriorating law and order situation in the country, the schooling of displaced children would probably not be a priority with the authorities.
However, the unfortunate children of South Waziristan continue to enroll in the school registers in Dera Ismail Khan in the hope that their futures will take precedence with the education authorities soon.
Local schools are running out of places to accommodate these extra students, adding to innumerable problems to the turbulent frontier.
There are no camps for the people who fled their homes to escape the ongoing fighting between Pakistani security forces and Taliban militants in the nearby lawless South Waziristan region.
As a result, many have squeezed into relatives' homes. Others are renting accommodations at steep prices, or are living in cramped makeshift quarters in various parts of the impoverished city.
Relief goods are often not enough, leading to scuffles between weary people waiting in long queues, and at times, compelling police officers on duty to resort to forceful swings of their long bamboo sticks to scatter the unruly crowds.
A spokesman of the district government told reporters on Sunday that 16 schools had been opened to provide education facilities to the displaced children in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. He said 2,329 students had so far been admitted in the schools.
Masud ur Rehman, a school teacher who fled from South Waziristan three weeks ago and has volunteered to teach the displaced children, said that the traumatized children were very eager to enrol in local schools, but added that there were no signs of any schools for them yet.
‘A lot of children come, during the first time as well as during the second time. They enrol themselves, then go away,’ Rehman told Reuters Television.
Some local schools have agreed to take in the displaced children in the second shift, after regular classes are over.
Children have been flocking to these schools to get enrolled for the evening classes.
‘When we came from above, we found that there were no arrangements for our education here. Our books were left back at home. The government should make arrangements for us,’ said Asif Raheem, a student in Class 9 in his village in South Waziristan.
Raheem's family, like the families of many other students, suffered greatly during their flight to safety.
‘All of them have told us stories about the conditions under which they left home. They say they had to flee in such a hurry that they left their books and everything else behind, and just managed to save their heads. Not a single one of them has books,’ said Tariq Zaman, another displaced man who has volunteered to teach the refugee children.
‘Now it is the duty of the government to find a way to provide them with books and places in which to study. The numbers are likely to increase,’ Zaman added.
The Pakistan army went on the offensive in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on October 17, aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants who stepped up their war on security forces in 2007.
The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities across the country.
With the government having its hands full dealing with the fast-deteriorating law and order situation in the country, the schooling of displaced children would probably not be a priority with the authorities.
However, the unfortunate children of South Waziristan continue to enroll in the school registers in Dera Ismail Khan in the hope that their futures will take precedence with the education authorities soon.
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