North Waziristan district is the home of Wazir and Dawar tribes. Adjacent to the Khost province of Afghanistan, this agency has strategic importance. Being a region adjacent to Afghanistan, North Waziristan could not be spared from decades of civil war in Afghanistan. Numerous terrorists moved from Afghanistan to different areas of North Waziristan and thus by 2014, the agency had become a safe haven for terrorists. The Pakistan Army was determined to rid the country of the scourge of terrorism. In June 2014, a comprehensive military operation, Operation Zarb-i-Azb, was carried out. Today North Waziristan has become the cradle of peace thanks to the tireless and immense sacrifices of the Pakistan Army.
After the success of Operation Zarb-i-Azb and the return of the local population, work was started on several projects to establish lasting peace in the district. These projects have a special focus on education and the Pakistan Army, with the support of the local administration and the FATA Secretariat, is engaged in improving the area.
Before mentioning the ongoing efforts of Pakistan Army in North Waziristan, it is necessary to tell some data for the awareness of the readers. According to the 1998 census, the total population of North Waziristan was 361,246 and according to an estimate, the number of male and female students was 86,233. There were about 50000 male students and the remaining number of female students. According to a survey, there are more or less 896 educational institutions in the agency, out of which 604 are primary schools most of which were destroyed by terrorists after their ingress in the area after 2001. Today, the literacy rate of women is less than 5% which needs special attention. Keeping in mind the shortcomings in the past, the Pakistan Army practically took the responsibility of providing education to every child and is busy day and night in fulfilling its mission.
After the completion of search and destroy missions to cleans the area completely from terrorists, Pakistan Army began to put special focus on education from the year 2016. As Pakistan Army’s top priority was to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries and then bring peace. The steps it took to restore destroyed schools played a key role in quick recovery of educational activities in the district. Due to effective coordination and planning of Pakistan Army, all concerned stakeholders like the Provincial Government, FATA Secretariat, Political Agents, Teachers, and Students played their role.
Many initiatives were taken which not only created the interest of learning among the local children and youth but also started to create a trend of better education in the society. In this respect, Pakistan Army built countless small and large educational institutions in the district. Educational activities have also started in Mir Ali and Miran Shah degree colleges established for students.
The work done by the Pakistan Army for the promotion of education in North Waziristan along with the restoration of peace is as follows:
- Construction of standard schools, provision of furniture and other facilities by Pakistan Army. Necessary measures to improve the condition of existing schools.
- Distribution of free books and stationery among children.
- Encouraging girl child education
- Organization of sports competitions and other recreational activities between schools.
- Launch of education survey to find out how many children are out of school and practical steps to enroll them in schools.
- Launch of a vigorous campaign to highlight the need and importance of education.
- Encouraging and providing protection to the private sector so that they can join hands with the government to improve the quality of education and literacy rate.
Now, after 6 years since the beginning of this effort, the roads and streets where terror reigned once are now seen with children carrying books. Pakistan Army undoubtedly deserves praise for this effort.