Education is a basic right of every child aged 5- 16 years, as stated in Article 25A of the Constitution. Unfortunately, a safe educational environment is still a big dilemma in Pakistan as the nation faces the plague of terrorism for more than a decade. The war on terror in our tribal areas has incurred losses to many educational institutions, as many institutions were used as living barracks by army soldiers, which stopped formal academic activities. 

Many schools suffered losses as a result of the war on terror, which need huge finances and time to reconstruct the infrastructure. The incident of 16th December 2014 cannot escape the nation’s memory as one of the darkest days in our history. Recently the terrorist attack on a school van in Swat KPK is an alarming situation for the safety of educational intuitions. The terrorist attack comes after a day of the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Nobel Laureate Malala Yousaf Zai by TTP when she was a schoolgirl who advocated for girls’ education in the Swat Valley. Such incidents are increasing after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and banned girls’ education; the spillover effects of this huge development are also observed in Pakistan. There are various issues with girls’ education like mobility issues to and from school, sometimes in remote areas limiting girls to household chores and keeping them deprived of education.

Recent attacks on education are of great concern for us all. The government and law enforcement agencies should take firm steps to prevent such incidents in the future. Dealing with conflict, and provision of safe and secure schools should be part of policy discussion and planning on the education agenda should be defined with clear language with defined targets and indicators linked with quality education. A holistic approach is needed to be adopted to engage all stakeholders to make schools safe for our children as the nation cannot afford more losses to the education sector.

M. FAHEEM,

Islamabad.