Following the attack on a military-run school in Peshawar on December 16, which killed more than 150 people in a terror attack, officials of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province have announced that teachers will now be allowed to carry guns to confront extremists.
Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani said that decision was taken to improve the security situation at educational institutions because it is impossible for the 65,000-strong security forces to provide security for the entire province.
But the move to arm teachers is drawing criticism from teachers saying that their job was to educate, not to provide security and it put children at even greater risk, as well as affects teachers’ performance at work.
And as per Dr Shahid Iqbal, head of the Department of Psychology at Urdu University Karachi, it was one of the ‘most stupid’ school security ideas he had ever seen.
He conjectured that difference of opinions between students and armed teachers, particularly in colleges or universities could spark another bloody tragedy.
Imtiaz Gilani, vice-chancellor of Peshawar Engineering University, also disagreed with the move.
‘One does not have to be genius to figure out the psychological impact on a student who knows that he is being taught by an armed person. He will feel threatened and insecure,’ he said.
‘A teacher’s job is not to engage himself in security related issues but to teach students,’ he said. ‘Students of colleges or universities may not feel threatened by an armed teacher but definitely it will have highly negative impact on school children.’
Around 40 schools have already been issued with firearms licences and hundreds more are in anticipation of them, according to Local government officials.