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       SWAT: A large number of girls students on Tuesday took to the streets to protest the government’s decision to allocate land of their college for the construction of a boys’ college in Khwazakhela tehsil here.

       The students chanted slogans against the government’s decision and called for its reversal.

       The protesting students said that their college building had remained under the use of security forces for 15 years, and when the college was made operational, miscreants torched its 15 classrooms.

       “When the college building was under the occupation of the security forces, we were forced to attend classes in a madressah that lacked the necessary facilities,” Ishrat Bibi, a BS student, said.

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       Currently, she said the students were attending to their classes in tents as the burned classrooms could not be reconstructed till date.

       The students deplored that instead of addressing their plight, the government’s recent decision to allocate a portion of the college’s land for a boys’ college showed its lack of commitment towards the promotion of girls’ education.

       The girls said that there was ample government land in Khwazakhela for constructing the boys’ college.

       “While we’ve been waiting for funds to reconstruct our destroyed classrooms, the government seems to have funds readily available for a new college for boys. We are not opposed to building the college, but it should not come at the expense of our campus,” Hifsa, another student, asserted.

       The protesters warned of staging a sit-in if their college’s land was allocated for boys’ college.

       When contacted, higher education department’s regional director Inayatullah Khan told Dawn that the girls’ college campus spanned 53 kanals of land though KP regulations stipulated a requirement of only 20 kanals for a college.

       “The department has decided to allocate 20 kanals of land for the boys’ college, leaving about 30 kanals for the girls’ college. Additionally, approximately Rs70 million have been approved for the reconstruction of the burned classrooms, work on which would begin soon,” he said.

       Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024