PESHAWAR: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plans to build an education city in the militancy-stricken South Waziristan tribal district.
It will be the province’s first-ever project of its sort. The “South Waziristan Education City” would include schools, colleges, and sub-campuses of various universities around the country, including those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and beyond.
The education city will be developed in Barwand, which is located in the tribal district’s Mehsud-dominated sector. During the past two decades, South Waziristan was a hub of terrorism. Militant organizations either destroyed or transformed schools into hideouts in the Mehsud region, causing havoc on educational institutions.
Dr. Najeebullah, the education city’s project director, estimated that the first phase of the city would take three years to complete and cost Rs2.5 billion. Dr. Najeebullah, a material sciences PhD from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, claimed the Provincial Development Working Party had already approved the project’s budget.
He oversaw the establishment of the US Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy at the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, a multibillion-dollar initiative. As project director, he was instrumental in the development of the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences Swat.
He stated that in addition to educational facilities, the education city will give citizens cutting-edge sporting facilities such as complexes, cricket stadiums, football fields, etc. During the initial phase of the project, he noted, a one-megawatt solar park will also be constructed.
