By Shafqat Ali Khan
Thirty-four children and a teacher went to school on Thursday morning, October 15, 2026, to learn. They never came home. The roof of a three-storey private school in Dir Colony, Peshawar, fell on children sitting in their classrooms. Most of the victims were under 14. Rescue workers dug through the rubble, many with their bare hands. Parents crowded the narrow lane outside, begging for news of their sons and daughters. More than 50 people were injured, and some children are still in critical condition. One father said he pulled three girls, all under eight, out of the debris himself. One boy survived only because he had left his classroom to drink water.
Some officials will call this a “tragic accident.” It was not. It was negligence and a failure of regulation, and it was the result of ignoring warnings. This is not the first time. In June, 14 children died when the roof of a private tuition centre collapsed in Lahore. In July, three girls were killed when a wall of a government primary school fell in Umerkot, Sindh. Weeks before the Peshawar tragedy, four children died and 20 people were hurt when a classroom roof collapsed at a private school in Dera Ghazi Khan. Each time, officials expressed grief and promised action. Each time, the news cycle moved on. Peshawar is what happens when we do not learn.
Private schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are supposed to be registered and monitored by the Private Schools Regulatory Authority. Registration is meant to mean something. It should tell parents that the building is strong, the exits are safe, and the staff are trained. After the collapse, the Peshawar education secretary ordered the Authority to submit a report. The Governor ordered action against those responsible and called for strict enforcement of registration and safety rules. These orders are welcome, but they come after 35 deaths. Why was action not taken before?
The Authority must tell the public whether this school was registered and, if yes, who inspected the building and when. It must say whether a structural safety check was ever done on the roof and upper floors. It must disclose whether any complaints or warnings were received and what was done about them. And if the school was unregistered, it must explain how it operated openly, in the middle of a city, with hundreds of children. The school’s owner and principal have been arrested. That is right, and the courts must hold them fully accountable. But an owner who cuts corners is only half the story. A regulator that does not inspect, does not enforce and does not act is the other half. Without it, no one checks the buildings, and no one stops the owners who skip safety to save money.
A school is also a workplace for teachers, cleaners, guards and drivers. It is also a place where hundreds of children spend most of their day. Under Pakistan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2018 and basic building safety rules, every school should have a structural safety certificate before opening and regular checks afterward, limits on how many people can safely use each floor and room, clear exit routes that are never blocked, fire safety equipment that works, and a named safety officer. Many low-cost private schools run from converted houses, with extra floors added over time and nobody checking whether the walls and roof can carry the load. Pakistan spends less than 1% of its GDP on education, so many poor families depend on these schools. Their children are paying with their lives for the state’s failure.
When a building collapses, the first minutes decide who lives. Every school should have a simple emergency plan that all teachers know. Evacuation drills should be held at least twice a year so children and teachers know where to go. Roles should be assigned: who calls rescue services, who counts the children, and who guides parents away from the site. Emergency numbers should be displayed in every school office. There should be clear access for ambulances and rescue vehicles; in Peshawar, the school stood in a narrow, crowded alley, which makes rescue harder. Staff and neighbourhood volunteers should receive rescue training. In the first hours, ordinary residents were the main rescuers, with no training or equipment.
The injured children needed help before ambulances could get through the crowded streets. Every school should have a fully stocked first aid kit in every building and on every floor, and at least two staff members per shift trained in basic first aid and CPR. Staff should know what to do after a collapse: stop heavy bleeding with firm pressure, do not move a child with a suspected neck or back injury unless there is immediate danger, keep injured children warm and calm, and note who was rescued, and when, for the hospital. Basic first aid training costs very little. It can save a life while waiting for help.
As a human rights activist, I will not stay silent. I demand a safety audit of every private school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 30 days, carried out by independent engineers, not by paperwork alone. Any school found unsafe should be closed immediately, with a plan to move the children to safe buildings, and no child should be left without education. The Authority’s report should be released publicly, with names and responsibilities, and officials who failed in their duty must face action, not transfers. Registration should be tied to safety, so that no school is registered or renewed without proof of structural, fire and emergency safety. First aid and emergency training should be mandatory for staff in all schools, public and private. The families of the dead and the injured should receive fair compensation and free treatment. And there should be a public register of registered schools, so parents can check before they enrol their children.
Every parent deserves to send a child to school without fear. Every teacher deserves a safe workplace. Every child deserves to come home. We have buried too many of them. The next audit cannot wait, and the next report cannot wait. Our children cannot wait.
Shafqat Ali Khan | Social Development Specialist –
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development Project (KITE)
Department of Tourism, Govt. of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
