Stranded cable car highlights Pakistan’s school accessibility crisis

BATTAGRAM, Pakistan, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Ibrar Ahmed is relieved to be alive after being trapped in a cable car over a river in northern Pakistan for 16 hours this week, but now the student wonders how he will make the arduous journey until class every day.

“God willing, I’m going to continue my studies, but the road to our school is very long,” she said after Tuesday’s ordeal, which drew worldwide attention.

“Sometimes… I’m late for school because it opens at 8:30 am and the road is very dangerous,” said Ahmed, in his first year of high school at Batungi Pashto Public School. “The chairlift is necessary, but now it scares us.”

Seven children and a man were rescued by Pakistani military and civilians from the flimsy cable car after a cable snapped, dangling them 183 meters (600 feet) in the hilly Battagram district north of Islamabad.

This ordeal highlights a school accessibility crisis for many in Pakistan, with few secondary schools, poor roads, poverty and extreme weather conditions hampering students’ ability to get to class.

That is one of the main reasons why Pakistan has the second lowest school attendance rate in the world. Some 23 million, or 44%, of Pakistani children between the ages of four and 16 do not go to school and the situation is worse for girls, according to government and World Bank figures.

Given Pakistan’s huge young population, raising education rates is vital for economic sustainability and to assuage security concerns plaguing the South Asian country, exacerbated by the lure of militant groups in impoverished rural areas, they say. analysts and economists.

“Long distances and travel times, few transport options and costs are some of the barriers to accessing education, particularly for girls who are often not allowed to travel long distances alone,” Ellen said. Van Kalmthout, UNICEF Pakistan’s chief of education.

Ahmed wants “a proper road” and a secondary school near his village.

‘NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS’

Batungi Pashto secondary school principal Ali Asghar Khan links long commutes to high dropout rates.

“Most of the children who come from faraway villages do their best to carry on, but they often face problems when traveling back and forth, either because they are too young or not strong enough or sick, so they they definitely drop out,” Khan said. “Here the school dropout rate is high.”

Many students must walk for one to three hours each way on poorly constructed trails, crossing streams that become dangerous rivers in the rainy seasons, Khan said. Those who make it are often exhausted from the journey, aggravated by the hot summers and frigid winters of northern Pakistan. Tired and hungry, they have trouble concentrating, he said.

Communities have installed dozens of cable car systems across the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with steep hills plunging into valleys. They often cut rides down to 20 minutes for a cheap fare, but they come at a dangerous cost, even before Tuesday’s scare.

“There have been numerous accidents in the past,” said former provincial police inspector general Naeem Khan. “Most of the time the stranded people are rescued by the local people themselves, with the help of the local police.”

A civilian involved in the rescue Tuesday said he had rescued people at least six times before on smaller chairlifts.

Some 50 lifts dot the slopes of the nearby Swat Valley. Residents said the cars provide a lifeline for students, especially after severe flooding last year damaged infrastructure, but there were multiple deaths and injuries last year.

“Two months ago, a woman and her child fell into the Swat river… when the cable car rope broke. Their bodies have not yet been recovered,” said resident Nasrullah Khan.

‘THIS IS OUR DEMAND’

Local officials and development agencies are scrambling to fix the problems in the province, which are echoed across Pakistan.

“It is very difficult for them to reach schools in remote areas, but in recent years our government has invested a lot and innovative ideas have been put forward,” said Syed Hammad Haider, additional deputy commissioner of Battagram district.

Remote learning and community classes, especially for girls, are a priority, while all cable cars in the area are being reviewed and those posing safety risks will be closed, he said.

The World Bank is investing 300 million dollars in rural infrastructure for the province in a project until 2027, with access to education in mind.

Challenges include a shortage of middle and high schools, especially for girls, and a lack of good, all-weather roads, “which are becoming increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters due to climate change,” a Bank spokesperson said. World.

For students in areas like Battagram who risk their lives to go to school, that can’t come fast enough.

“Now we won’t take the elevator, but I don’t want to leave the school either,” said Rizwan Ullah, another rescued student. “We want roads in our region, we want a bridge, we want secondary schools, we want all these facilities. This is our demand.”

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