



In order to improve the education system in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata), the FATA Secretariat has planned a range of initiatives for the next Annual Development Programme (ADP).





Talking to The Express Tribune, FATA Secretariat Education Secretary Muhammad Abid Majeed said a total of 69 schools in Fata have so far been converted into English-medium institutions.“From grade six onwards Mathematics, Social Studies and General Science will now be taught in English,” Majeed said, adding that subject specialist teachers in these schools possess a Masters degree and are well-versed in the English Language.“We are currently in the processes of finalising 10 schools in each agency of Fata and four in each Frontier Region for conversion into English-medium from the primary section onwards. These schools include an equal number of schools for boys and girls.” He further added they would need to train teachers for this, while free of cost English Language textbooks will be provided.The secretary added summer vacations are the best time to make any changes in the system and maintained that within a few months 94 primary schools would be successfully converted into English-medium schools.Majeed said the main purpose of altering these institutions was to grant less fortunate students in far-flung areas easy access to quality education. “English-medium schools will enable Fata’s students to come up to par with students from all over the country,” he said.In order to encourage girls to enrol in schools, the Secretariat has set a monthly stipend of Rs200 for every girl who joins a school, provided she attends lesson at least 20 days in a month.Talking about bringing madrassahs in the fold of the Secretariat’s initiatives, Majeed said a total of 51,822 students are enrolled in about 276 madressahs in Fata.“The government has frequently been helping out these establishments by providing primary teachers or modifying their syllabi. However, under the new ADP we plan to work on a partnership with registered madressahs to support them in infrastructure building and providing scholarships.” Majeed said.Targets will be set and if successful a higher amount of money will be provided. The set out standards would comprise including sciences subjects, languages and computer literacy courses in their syllabi.As a performance incentive, authorities will distribute 468 laptops among students who score the top three positions in matriculation, intermediate, undergraduate and masters, while the principal of a school having more than one high achiever will also be rewarded, Majeed said.State of educationAccording to the Annual Statistical Report 2012-13, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, there are 5,625 government institutes in Fata out of which 4,442 are functional (2,614 boys and 1,828 girls) while 1,064 are non-functional (578 boys and 486 girls) and around 119 are closed. Non-functional schools refer to those schools where teachers, though employed, remain absent.From the non-functional institutes, 927 are primary schools (482 boys and 445 girls), 98 are middle schools (67 boys and 31 girls), 33 are high schools (26 boys and seven girls), two are higher secondary institutes (one boys and one girls) and four are degree colleges (two boys and two girls). The statistics further show the overall literacy rate in Fata is 24.05%. The literacy rate for males is 36.66% and for females it is 10.50%.The overall dropout ratio from nursery to grade five in government primary schools over a cycle of six years was 61%, out of which 62% was of boys and 58% of girls.Moreover, the dropout rate from grade six to grade 10 in public schools over a cycle of five years was 72% of which 68% was for boys and 78% for girls.The report also reveals 1,880 boys and 617 girls schools do not have a boundary wall, 2,303 boys and 1,246 girls schools lack proper arrangements for clean drinking water, 2,126 boys and 1,024 girls schools do not have electricity and 2,585 boys and 1,095 girls schools do not have proper toilets.Published in The Express Tribune, July 9, 2013.