China's aid for schools welcomed by kids in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD－Sharafat Afridi, father of three daughters in Khyber district of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, eagerly awaits the completion of 50 schools being gifted by the Chinese government to the children in his district to restart their education by getting back to school.

Khyber district is part of a tribal region of the country that suffered the menace of terrorism for over a decade, a situation that has improved in recent years.

The poor security in the province has taken a toll on the educational system, and many children in the area either do not get quality education or are out of school due to the lack of educational institutes.

"Terrorism hit us really hard, we lost our businesses and there was no peace, but it was my daughters' education which suffered the most. My eldest two daughters were in their early primary years in 2015, and one morning when they went to attend their school, the building was no longer there because it had been blown up," Afridi says.

However, he says his daughters, who did not lose hope and continued their learning at home, later found a school far away from their house and attended regardless of trouble and harsh weather conditions during winter.

"My youngest daughter is now at the age that she will start school soon. We are so happy that she will be able to study in a new school built near my home."

According to data compiled by the provincial government, up until 2015, over 1,000 girls' schools had been attacked, 555 of which were completely destroyed.

Muhammad Humayun, subdivisional officer of the building division in Khyber district, says the government has rehabilitated 895 damaged schools and schools being built with Chinese donation also include some of those that had been destroyed.

"There are no good schools in the area. The available schools are very small with two classrooms for primary classes and no more than four for the middle school children. They are far away from each other and are overcrowded with students," he says.

The schools being built with Chinese donations are bigger and better, Humayun says. "Most of the new schools have six rooms for primary students and 10 for middle schoolers, providing a pleasant space for children, who have seen unrest in the region since their birth, to enjoy a peaceful environment and get a quality education."

Muhammad Rafique Tahir, joint educational adviser at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, says, "The number of out-of-school children is increasing in tribal areas due to the lack of available schools," noting that Chinese government donation "is a big help for the Pakistani government, and a great gift to the people of the tribal district".

Xinhua