Pakistan: Bara's only girls' college leaves thousands without higher education opportunities

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan] May 18 (ANI): With a population exceeding 600,000 in the Bara tehsil of Khyber tribal district, the region continues to rely on a single government girls' degree college that lacks essential academic facilities, transport services, and adequate security, leaving hundreds of female students struggling to continue their education.

Students and parents have demanded urgent intervention from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to improve the institution and introduce four-year BS programmes, as reported by The Express Tribune.

According to The Express Tribune, students at Government Girls Degree College Bara complain that the absence of science departments, laboratories and transportation has severely affected their academic futures. Many girls are forced to either discontinue their studies or switch to unrelated subjects because modern educational programmes are unavailable.

Najma Abdullah, an Associate Degree Urdu student from Malik Din Khel, said she had originally enrolled in Microbiology but lost three academic years after the programme was discontinued due to a lack of affiliation. She explained that her ambition to pursue a BS in Biology could not materialise because the college offers no science-based higher education programmes. Due to transport difficulties, she currently stays with relatives near the college. Najma said talented girls in Bara are being denied opportunities because poverty, insecurity and limited educational infrastructure make higher studies nearly impossible. She also stressed the urgent need for government transport, noting that many students walk long distances daily despite security concerns.

Other students expressed similar frustrations. Sonia Abdul Jaleel highlighted the lack of proper laboratories, furniture, fans, and campus security, and noted that the college does not even have a playground. Another student, Asma Batool from Orakzai district, said parents remain worried because there is no official pick-and-drop facility in an area already affected by security challenges, as cited by The Express Tribune.

The college currently offers only an Associate Degree in Urdu despite having hundreds of enrolled students. Officials admitted that BS programmes cannot begin without modern laboratories and upgraded infrastructure for subjects such as Computer Science, Chemistry and Biology, as reported by The Express Tribune. (ANI)

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