In Tehsil Banda Daud Shah, students have been forced for the past 12 years to study in a college building devastated by a blast, despite the Works Department officially declaring the structure “dangerous.”This is the only college serving the tehsil’s population of nearly 200,000 in District Karak.
The building was severely damaged in a terrorist bombing in 2013: some rooms collapsed entirely, while others remain standing but are at risk of falling at any time. Yet, more than a decade later, no meaningful effort has been made to repair or rebuild it.Local residents say that due to the building’s deteriorating condition, fewer than 100 students are currently enrolled, as families are unwilling to risk their children’s lives.According to the latest census, 48,000 of the tehsil’s 62,700 residents aged 10 and above (around 77 percent) are literate.
However, only 59 percent of students who enroll in matriculation continue on to intermediate education.College Principal Nisarullah said: “We have written numerous letters and sent repeated reminders to the Secretary of Higher Education, the Director of Higher Education, and other relevant officials, but no action has been taken. After the blast, political figures visited, posed for photographs, made promises, and left. Since then, a silence has descended over this college that remains unbroken to this day.”
