Pakistan: Balakot girls school staff suspended over music festival

Balakot (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) [Pakistan], March 18 (ANI): Staff members of a girls school in Balakot of Pakistan were suspended over a nighttime music festival organised by a group of youth on campus.
Deputy commissioner of Mansehra district Dr Qasim Ali Khan has suspended all staff members of the Government Primary School for Girls, Kanshian, Balakot, Dawn reported.
He formed a committee, led by the assistant commissioner of Balakot and comprising officials of the education department, to look into the matter and fix responsibility for strict action.
The development came as the residents met the deputy commissioner and sought action against school staff and event organisers. Dr Qasim said such music functions couldn't be allowed in public sector schools and colleges, especially those for women.
The new development would deprive the girls in the backward region of receiving educations. Pakistan was described as "among the world's worst-performing countries in education," at the 2015 Oslo Summit on Education and Development.
And despite the international outcry, the government of the country has failed to take the necessary steps for improving the condition of the education sector.
Many government schools exist on paper only. School buildings, mostly in rural areas, have been converted to drawing rooms for local landowners or cattle sheds.
Due to the growing number of security threats, families are always concerned about sending their children to school.
Moreover, hardline groups and terrorist groups, including Pakistan Taliban, have increased attacks on educational institutions in order to discourage girls from going to school.
Most attacks against educational targets in Pakistan have been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). (ANI)