Unappreciated

A festival was held in Zhob, Balochistan recently under the aegis of the youth affairs department of the provincial government. A variety of events including English/Urdu speech competitions, bilingual essay writing contests etc were held, with both boys and girls participating. Students from the girls’ high schools and colleges of Zhob and Sherani arranged science exhibitions featuring innovative science projects based on satellite communication, water purification systems, electricity generation, liver and kidney structures and their functions etc. These creative works of the students received due appreciation from the visitors belonging to various segments of society.

As far as I know, all the participants were either given commendation certificates or cash prizes of at least Rs15000. However, the girls, who contributed so excellently, were not awarded a single penny by the organizers, to my knowledge. They should have been honoured with certificates of appreciation at least. If the girls schools’ contributions continue to be ignored in events like these, they may not even participate in such healthy engagements in future.

Guldar Ali Khan Wazir

Zhob