Groundbreaking ceremony for 130 schools in FATA

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, US Ambassador Nancy Powell and Japanese Ambassador Nobuki Tanaka on Thursday inaugurated the foundations of the first of 130 schools in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).

The schools will be constructed under the FATA School Reconstruction and Furnishing project. Besides officials from USAID, FATA and the Education Directorate, political agents, community leaders, teachers and children attended the ceremony in Jamrud sub-division of Khyber Agency, bordering Peshawar.

USAID and the Japanese embassy will share the cost of $5 million to reconstruct and equip 130 schools across FATA.

The new primary school building will be equipped with facilities for 253 children. The FATA Education Directorate will ensure that the schools have adequate numbers of qualified and trained teachers. Ms Powell reiterated the US government’s support to improving education standard in Pakistan. She emphasized the importance of education for children in FATA. “Making schools attractive for children will be an important step towards convincing parents that their children can get quality education,” she said.

Congratulating the FATA Secretariat on its role in the project, Ms Powell said, “The FATA people should be proud of their leadership which was trying to provide better school facilities for teachers and students.” Reiterating Japan’s commitment to qualitative and quantitative improvements in Pakistan’s education sector, Ambassador Tanaka emphasized that by improving education infrastructure in FATA, the locals would contribute to the country’s development.

Ambassador Tanaka praised all the people designing the project. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the FATA governor and the two ambassadors laid bricks to mark the beginning of schools’ construction.

Home | National