Armed teachers in Peshawar schools.

http://ift.tt/1DCJN60

Quote:

A teacher for 15 years, Saeed argues that bringing a gun to school reassures his students, who are still terrified after a brazen attack on the Army Public School and Degree College in December, when Taliban militants stormed the building and massacred dozens of students during a six-hour siege. "They would look to the door every time they heard a sound. Now when they see me wearing a gun, they need not worry and can focus on the task at hand, which is to educate themselves," Saeed says. Last month, the provincial government pledged to spend seven billion rupees ($69 million) on enhancing security at government run schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhua. However, KPK information minister Mushtaq Ghani says it is still not enough prevent in an attack on the 35,000 government-run schools in the province. So, in an extraordinary measure, the KPK government has allowed teachers with firearm licenses to keep guns at school.

Not everone agrees though.

Quote:

Umar Daraz, a mild mannered primary school teacher ...."Why would you glorify guns?" he asks. "If teachers take guns into classroom it glorifies this deadly weapon in the eyes of children, and in the future it could inspire them to seek out guns, misuse them and cause more tragedies to take place." Around 20 female teachers have already received training from Inspector Rozia Altaf. Most had never held a gun before. "The tragedy of December 16 has emboldened these women," Altaf tells CNN. "Most of them were mothers and they were helpless then -- they will be never helpless again." Regardless of the day's training, Mukhtar says none of the teachers involved have expressed interest in obtaining a gun license.

Ranb