MAHMOOD RAQI - Education officials in central Kapisa province have alleged some school buildings remained incomplete as contractors have left the province.
Deputy Director of Education Abdul Rasul Safi told Pajhwok Afghan News construction work on school buildings in Mahmud Raqi, Nijrab, Kohistan, Tagab and Ala Sai districts had been halted.
He said that they had contacted with the Ministry of Education, which was yet to take any step to deal with the situation. Forty percent 160 schools in the province did have no building, where students were taught in rented houses or in the open air, he added.
The construction contracts had to be signed with local companies because they could not leave the province, the deputy director said.
“My brother is a student of an institute but he is studying in an old building of a textile factory. Classroom of the institute leak in rains,” said a resident of Kohistan district, Ziaur Rahman Shakiri.
Construction work on the building of the institute had been launched two years ago, but the project was yet to be completed, confirmed a student of the institute in Mahmud Raqi, Fida Mohammad.
The Ala Sai district chief, Ghulam Naqshbandi Safi, said they faced two main problems in the sphere of education -- a shortage of professional teachers and lack of buildings for schools.
“The students of some schools have to study under leaking roof and while others have no accommodation facility in their schools,” he said.
There are two girls’ schools in the district, but female students were taught in mosques due to the absence of proper buildings, the district chief admitted.
Construction of the school was initiated in 2010, but was halted in the middle of the project as the contractor left the area, complained a resident of the district, Khairullah. Currently Afghan soldiers are stationed in the school.
Likewise, a resident of Kohband district, Sahar Gul, confirmed the problem and said some of the contractors had fled and school buildings remained incomplete.
However, a student of Shaheed Ghulam Rasul School in Tagab district, Mohammad Idrees, said his school had a new building and the rest housed in shabby structures.
The education sector was facing problems due lack of textbooks for students of 10th, 11th and 12th grade, grumbled an inhabitant of Mahmud Raqi, Arita.
The principal of the Nasaji Girls’ School in Kohistan district, Zakia, said security was comparatively good but there were still challenges to girls’ education. Old tradition keep girls from studying beyond 10th grade, she added.
Provincial Council Chairman Mohammad Hussain Sanjni believed contracts for all projects in the province should be awarded to local companies and properly monitored.
Deputy Director of Education Abdul Rasul Safi said they had resolve the issue of lack of books but the shortage of teachers and school buildings were yet to be addressed.
Publication Director of Education Ministry Kabir Haqmal said they had sent many textbooks to provinces and had started the distribution process. (Pajhwok)