Parachinar Girls' Education Disrupted, Teacher Writes to Malala Yousafzai
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00:00On 9th March, a school principal wrote a letter to Malala Yousafzai
00:05and complained about the overall education of the girls in her school.
00:13She asked Malala Yousafzai to raise her voice.
00:16Malala Yousafzai has now replied to the letter.
00:19Malala Yousafzai, who is a Nobel laureate, expressed her sympathy
00:24in response to the letter.
00:27Malala Yousafzai said,
00:29You have been facing a siege for the past five months.
00:32You have been deprived of basic freedom of movement and education.
00:37I am aware of the pain you are going through.
00:41I am ready to return to your school so that you can build your future.
00:46Malala Fund is with you in this difficult time.
00:48We have informed the Government of Pakistan
00:51to take immediate action and reopen all closed doors.
00:55There is something wrong with your education.
00:59Your school should reopen so that you can complete your education.
01:04Your courage, passion and strength are a guide for me.
01:07I know how much you value education.
01:10And how important it is for girls and boys to choose their future.
01:16I can tell you that your voice has been heard.
01:19Millions of Pakistanis from all over the world are with you.
01:22I am sure that you will continue your efforts to complete your education.
01:27On 9th March, the letter that the school teacher wrote to Malala Yousafzai,
01:31we have already read it in this program.
01:34But let me tell you again how the teacher described the situation there.
01:39This is journalist Yusuf Zahi,
01:41who shared this letter with us on his Twitter account.
01:46He reported that a school teacher from Padachandar
01:49wrote a letter to Malala Yousafzai
01:52and asked her to raise her voice against the closure of roads in Padachandar.
01:58The letter said that Padachandar has been under siege for the past 5 months.
02:03No one can go out of the city and no one can enter the city.
02:07The children are facing severe trauma.
02:10Now their dreams are also in danger of being left incomplete.
02:15On 1st March, 2025, when the new school year began,
02:18only a few girls returned to school.
02:21The following school year, where thousands of new students enter the school,
02:24there was not a single book available for them.
02:27Because the books were burned on the way.
02:30I have seen tears in the eyes of my daughters for the books,
02:33where they read their heroes, where they see their dreams.
02:36How can someone be so cruel to deprive these girls of their books and their dreams?
02:41My student Leena, who studied in 6th grade,
02:44who wanted to become a scientist in the future,
02:46did not come to school because of the closure of roads.
02:49When I talked to Leena's family,
02:51I found out that she cries every day to come back to school
02:54because her dreams were big and now she is confined at home.
02:57Zainab, who studied in 3rd grade,
02:59who is a talented student and wanted to become an astronaut in the future,
03:03but her dreams have been shattered before they could be realized.
03:06These girls from Parachinar, which is a part of Pakistan,
03:10the government of Khair-e-Pakhtunkhwa, the government of Wifa,
03:13have not been able to send their daughters to school in Pakistan for 5 months.
03:17There is so much harm in their education.
03:19And these governments will not keep quiet.
03:22By the way, this is also a very big dilemma.
03:25This is not just Parachinar, this is Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan,
03:29any city, village or town,
03:32there is also a concern for the parents.
03:34If the girls in Pakistan can be deprived of their right to education,
03:37then God forbid, in the future, the rights of the girls from other parts of Pakistan should also be taken away.
03:42Arshad Yusuf Zahid, who reported this story, is present with us.
03:47Thank you very much, Mr. Arshad.
03:48What is the current situation in Parachinar?
03:50It has been 5 months.
03:51In fact, when the principal wrote this letter,
03:55it was the beginning of March.
03:57So it has been almost 6 months.
03:59That is, half a school year has been wasted by the girls.
04:02Are schools completely closed?
04:05Are they partially open?
04:07Some girls can go to school, but not all girls can go to school.
04:10What is the overall situation there at the moment?
04:13Thank you very much, Maria.
04:15The first thing is that the blockade there has not only affected the education,
04:22but other aspects of life have also been severely affected.
04:27Health and education in particular have been greatly affected.
04:31If you look at Uran, the most educational institutions in Parachinar are in Parachinar.
04:41And this is the only area where the education ratio is
04:47much higher than the set-up areas of Uran.
04:54So if you look at it from that perspective,
04:57the total number of schools there is more than 200,
05:02of which 53 are private schools.
05:05And there are 4 colleges and 1 medical university campus.
05:10But in all these educational institutions,
05:14very few children go to school.
05:17Because there is no petrol there,
05:21there is a problem with transportation.
05:23People cannot reach their schools with the help of these villages.
05:27Because of this, the children cannot go there.
05:33The second thing is that there is always a risk of a war.
05:38And it is obvious how to manage the children.
05:43So there are two big factors in this,
05:47because of which the educational institutions are not functioning
05:52in a way that can attract expectations.
05:55The second thing is that in those government schools,
05:59students were also appointed from other areas.
06:03It is obvious that when this war started,
06:07when the issue of Parachinar started,
06:12you will remember that this problem started from the area of Dharimangal.
06:17So I think this was an educational problem.
06:23And this problem started from there,
06:26because of which the educational institutions are still functioning.
06:30And they operate their schools in that way.
06:34Mr. Arshad, it has been 6 months now.
06:36The first responsibility is of the provincial government,
06:39of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
06:40And after that, even the government cannot do anything.
06:43It is a part of Pakistan.
06:44The children are not able to go to school there.
06:46Has the government tried to open the roads?
06:50The government is not able to open the roads.
06:52Even if they try to open the roads,
06:53the expenses of 6 months are still there.
06:55Do you see the urgency?
06:56The educational years of the children are being wasted.
06:59No, I don't think any serious efforts have been made.
07:03We don't see any serious efforts.
07:05The UKKP government has not taken any serious steps.
07:09In fact, if you look at it,
07:11the welfare government is also showing a lot of negligence.
07:18You can see that no serious efforts have been made there.
07:22Even the MNAs are protesting on the assembly floor with a sign board.
07:31And despite that, they are not listening to anyone.
07:35Let me tell you that this agreement was made.
07:38A small effort was made.
07:40But that agreement was made between the GOC and the local people there.
07:45The UKKP government has not taken any serious steps.
07:49We can clearly see that the government is not able to open the roads.