Pakistan: Government assurances on Swat schools fall on deaf ears

Government assurances that it will protect female students and their schools in Swat Valley, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), from attack and closure by militants have failed to satisfy many local people. "We can't risk sending our daughters to school. We will comply with the demand made by the [Taliban] militants," said Ahmed Ali, 52, a father of three girls. "The Taliban do what they say," he said. He and his neighbours listen to illegal FM stations run by militants to find out what has been ordered, and then comply. "That's the only way left to live in Swat," said Faraz Khan, Ali's friend who is thinking of moving if the schools do not open soon. "I don't want my children… to remain uneducated." According to Associated Press of Pakistan, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on 17 January she would get the girls' schools reopened, and reiterated that damaged and destroyed schools would be rebuilt. But Ali was sceptical: "I have seen dead bodies… beheaded bodies with my own eyes… I don't want to be made an example of! I am petrified of even talking to you for fear they may overhear me!" More schools targeted Since Rehman's statement, five schools have been bombed: They include the government-run Boys High School and Girls High School in Tahirabad, a suburb of Mingora, Swat District's largest city. On 16 January, a day after the deadline set by militants for the closure of all girls' secondary schools in Swat Valley, a government-run girls' middle school in Qambar, a suburb of Mingora, was blown up. However, in a gesture seen by many as a "softening" of their stance, the militants have reportedly allowed girls studying up to Grade 5 to continue their studies. According to government figures reported in The News, a local newspaper, about 400 private schools are unlikely to open after the winter vacation ends on 1 February. So far 170 schools, mostly for girls, have been attacked since the army operation against militants started in 2007, local media say. The News said the education of some 124,000 girls at various private and government schools would end if all girls' secondary schools were closed. New moves In a new move, the NWFP government has announced that it is making alternative arrangements to transfer more than 50,000 affected students in Swat to nearby districts. It said arrangements would be made to ensure students did not miss their exams. "Second shifts will also be started in schools [where the Taliban do not yet have any influence] which will also provide accommodation to affected students," said Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Sardar Hussain Babak, as reported by Dawn newspaper. The militants' actions have enraged civil society and politicians. The Women's Action Forum (WAF), an NGO, said in a statement: "Such an ultimatum is a clear violation of the right to education guaranteed in the constitution." It demanded complete security for the schools, staff and students and asked the government to ensure schools remained open.