Government Middle School Speen Qabar in Bara Khyber agency

In Pakistan, little by little people are returning to their homes following
the mop-up campaign against the armed groups. Look at the details here.

With the help of JEN’s supporters and the Japanese government JEN is working
on a livelihood improvement program, targeting the repatriated inhabitants of
FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Area) Khyber Agency.
This program focuses on breeding livestock.

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Tehsil Bara Khyber Agency is one of the most affected areas by militancy. There were many schools,  but the education facilities were not enough before people’s displacement. Students’ furniture, water and sanitation (WASH) facilities were lacking. Therefore parents didn’t send their kids to school, and the enrolment rate was low.

When the situation became worse, people started moving to settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and  temporarily dislocated persons (TDPs) camps mainly in Peshawar. Humanitarian organizations were working in the education sector inside those camps. Transitional shelters with proper WASH facilities in schools were installed, and awareness campaigns were carried out by organizations regarding the importance of education for both boys and girls. With all these efforts, the TDPs slowly came to know why education is important for  future success and peace.

After the situation became normal, and people started to move back to their places of origin, the scenario was totally different there. Many houses, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure were destroyed due to war in their areas.

One of the examples is the Government Middle School Speen Qabar. The building is totally destroyed, and now they don’t have permanent structure. Before people’s displacement, there were around 900 students.  After people’s return to the area in 2014, UNICEF provided shelter classrooms and temporary tents for classes, but the school is still deprived of basic facilities, such as electricity, water and toilets. Due to lack of facilities, children have to study in open air areas and disturbs their education once it gets rain. The number of students still remains 600.

A school teacher during our interview said, ”there is a change and people have started to know about the importance of education, but the lack of facilities again is affecting for the education. It is intense need to provide proper buildings with full facilities.  People raise new hope and that hope is incomplete without education and good education is impossible without facilities.”

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