PESHAWAR: The Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court has observed that the education system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is heading towards collapse, expressing concern over the province’s failure to prioritise education.
The remarks came during a hearing of a case concerning non-payment of scholarship funds to students of the University of Peshawar.
The petitioner’s counsel told the court that the students had still not received their scholarships despite an earlier court order.
An assistant registrar of the University of Peshawar requested more time to resolve the issue, informing the court that the university was facing a deficit of more than Rs2 billion. He said salaries had also been paid on the 16th of last month.
The chief justice observed that the province’s education system was heading towards collapse and said the authorities had failed to properly manage one of the province’s oldest universities.
He remarked that education had been pushed down the provincial government’s list of priorities. He also expressed concern over university land being leased out at nominal rates, the closure of academic departments and declining interest among students.
The court directed the university administration to resolve the students’ scholarship issue and issued a notice to the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The hearing was subsequently adjourned.
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