At least 13 govt colleges in KP have less than 100 students

PESHAWAR: As many as 13 colleges in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have less than 100 students which are costing each student more than private educational institutions.

The annual cost per student in Government Degree College Ghiljo, Orakzai and Government Girls Degree College Kotha, Swabi is 1,350,733 and Rs800,764, respectively. Many educational institutions have been with fewer students and more staff. Four colleges are non-functional in which not a single child is studying. 

However, funds are being released for these colleges. Six educational institutions are located in the old districts of the province while seven are merged districts. Four colleges are non-functional in the province out of 268. A total of 527 students are studying in 13 colleges in the province while the total budget of 13 colleges is Rs329.16 million. The KP government is spending an average of Rs624,592 per student annually from the national treasury in these thirteen colleges.

Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Higher Education, Libraries and Archives and Information Kamran Bangash told this correspondent that the provincial government was aware of the seriousness of the issue. The data of the colleges has been compiled on the instructions of the chief minister to find a long-lasting solution to this problem which will not affect the education of the children.

Kamran Bangash said the number of students in some colleges in the province is more than the capacity while the number of students in some colleges is very low. He said the government has two solutions to resolve it. The first is to try to increase the enrolment of students in government colleges and otherwise the second option is to outsource government colleges to the private sector as millions of rupees cannot be spent annually for a few students.

According to official statistics obtained through the RTI act 2013, Government Degree College (GDC) Ghiljo, Orakzai district has 30 students enrolled and the budget of the college is RS 40,522,000. The cost per student is Rs1,350,733 which is more than the fee of a private medical college. GDC Ladha, South Waziristan has 40 students with an annual budget of Rs32,217,000. The cost per student is Rs805, 425. Government Girls Degree College (GGDC) Kotha, Swabi, the third most expensive college has only 17 female students with an annual budget of Rs13,613,000. The cost per student is Rs800,764 annually.

Government Home Economics College Nowshera has 61 students with a budget of Rs423,26,000. Each student’s cost of this college is Rs693,868. GGDC Dara Zinda FR DIK has only 61 students with a budget of Rs40,571,000. A student’s annual cost is Rs665,098.

Similarly, GGDC Miranshah, North Waziristan has 92 students and the annual budget of the college is Rs45,013,000. The education cost of one student is Rs489,271. The official record further revealed that GGDC Ali Zai has 98 students with an annual budget of Rs37,910,000 costing a student Rs386,863. GDC Kalaya, Orakzai has 80 students with an annual budget of Rs24,214,000. A student’s annual cost is 302,675. GDC Dara Band Dera Ismail Khan has 48 students along with a huge budget of Rs5,339,000. It’s cost one for each student is Rs111,299 annually. Two colleges in GGDC Puran and GGDC Bisham district in Shangla are non-functional having an annual budget of Rs6,794,000 and Rs5,186,000, respectively. GGDC Ladha, South Waziristan has not a single student with an annual budget of Rs35,455,000. However, GDC Dogar, Kurram is without any student but its budget allocations are not available.