Helmet on burqa: Teacher rides motorbike for kilometres to reach school in DG Khan

DG KHAN: With a helmet over her burqa, Mahjabeen Bibi is all set to ride her motorbike to a distance of 27 kilometres from her house in Tonsa tehsil all the way to the foot of Koh Suleiman, where she teaches at the only school of an area.

While talking to Geo News about her daily commute, teacher says she rides to the school alone every day alone, passing through an area that was once infested with terrorists. She adds that some terrorists were killed in a raid by Rangers last year but the thought of their presence still haunts the area.

The 33-year-old teacher says she has children whom she has to look after, but still prioritises fulfilling her duty.

About their teacher, students of the school say she comes for classes every day without letting even extreme weather conditions come in her way. The students say they sometimes skip school but their teacher is seldom absent from duty.

The government boys primary school in Kaleri Basti is the only education facility in the area, where Mahjabeen Bibi is the sole female teacher. The area has no school for girls, but ever since she started teaching, parents began to send their daughters there.

However, the school has not yet started formally enrolling girls, who attend classes in civil clothes instead of uniforms.

Other than Mahjabeen Bibi, there are two other male teachers who give classes to students in the far-flung area of DG Khan.

The dedicated teacher has been working at the school for the past six years now.

The area she hails from — Sokar Basti in Tonsa tehsil of DG Khan — is a place where it is considered off for women to even step out of the house without a male member of the family. But in the tehsil education seems to be of prime importance, as literacy rate in Tonsa stands at 80%. Mahjabeen Bibi herself has graduated from Girls Degree College Tonsa.