Islamabad

As many as semi-government 14 girl colleges, set up under the control of the Frontier Education Foundation (FEF) in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are being shut and some 1,800 students relocated: a step most likely to force hundreds of them to discontinue education.

A FEF official informed The News that a budgetary allocation of Rs 280 million was needed for this financial year, but instead of meeting this crucial requirement, the provincial government had decided to arbitrarily close all these colleges down. Tuition fee is Rs 600 per month, whereas Rs 5000 are charged for the whole year.

The decision, it is learnt, has left many parents in a dilemma, as they feared, they would not be able to send their daughters to colleges in far-flung localities due to mainly financial and social reasons. These FEF colleges are in the outskirts of Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Chakdarra, Kohat, Dabgari, Tangi, Topi, Sara e Norang etc.

The staff (271 teachers and as many non-teaching staffers) of these colleges have been asked to sign forms for their adjustment (on deputation) in other government departments. “We are worried about our future as well. Moving from areas, where we have settled families for years, will also not be an easy decision,” two members of the reaching staff said wile talking to this correspondent from the outskirts of Peshawar.

To ascertain viewpoint of the provincial government, this correspondent contacted Education Minister Mushtaq Ghani on his cell phone, but he did not attend the calls. Similarly, he did not reply to the related questions sent through an SMS on his mobile phone.