Private schools in Peshawar Afghan kids being refused admission
PESHAWAR: Some private schools in the provincial metropolis have refused admissions to the Afghan students on reported directives of the government, while the education department has denied having issued any notification banning admissions to Afghan children in private or public sector educational institutions.
Parents of some of the Afghan students Monday told The News that they took their children to a private school in Hayatabad for admission to 6th and 7th grades. But the school administration refused to give admissions, saying that they had got directives from the provincial education department not to admit Afghan children.
The parents, who have been living in Peshawar since long, were concerned about the education of their children. They said their children were already studying in another school in the same township, but in search of a better institution they pulled them out from there.
When contacted, the head of Forward Public School, Sarfaraz, where the students had been allegedly denied admission, said that he had read a news item in an Urdu newspaper wherein the private schools had been asked not to offer fresh admissions to the Afghan children, otherwise their registration would be cancelled. I dont want to lose registration of my school, which is why I refused admissions to the Afghan children, he remarked.
When asked had he got the statement verified from the department concerned, Sarfaraz said it was not necessary for the department to issue notifications to each and every school. We also come to know about holidays and other matters from the newspapers and we dont feel necessary to get each and everything verified, he said.
He said that a number of Afghan students had already been studying in his school, but no fresh admission is offered to the Afghan children.
NWFP Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Arifeen, when reached on telephone, rejected the report about the notification as baseless. He said that the government had not taken any decision to put a ban on the education of Afghan children.
The official said there was no truth in the media report and the reporter concerned should have got it confirmed before publishing it. He said that as similar baseless reports are published in some newspapers frequently, he doesnt deem it necessary to issue clarification or contradiction of those reports.
Management of other schools contacted by this reporter also expressed unawareness about any directives banning admissions to Afghan children.
Nazar Hussain, general secretary of Chamber of Education, an association of private schools, said he was not aware of any notification to this effect. But if it is so, it would be a great injustice. Education is the internationally recognised birth right of every child. Since these Afghan children have born here, they should be provided access to education here, he remarked.
Another official while talking to The News on the condition of anonymity said it might be a tactic of the government to press the Afghan refugees living in the provincial capital to leave for their country. However, no written document to this effect has been issued by any government department, he said.
