Afghan students to get special cards to enter Pakistan

By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA) - Afghans studying in Pakistan will soon be able to continue their education thanks to special cards that will let students enter the country without a passport or visa, officials told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.
As a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Saturday announced that Afghan students would be given special cards to let them cross the border without presenting a passport or visa.
The announcement was made after a request by Kabul to allow Afghan students to continue their studies in schools and colleges in border areas, according to a notification issued by the political administration of Khyber Agency.
The students will be allowed to join their schools and colleges as of Monday, the notification further said.Pakistan had closed its border with Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Feb. 16 suicide bombing in the crowded Sufi shrine of Lal Shahraz Qalandar in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan.After the attack, which left at least 90 dead, Pakistan also prevented Afghan nationals, including students, from crossing the border without valid documents. The border remained closed for a month.Shamshul Islam, a local political officer at Torkham Border, told Anadolu Agency that the move would help nearly 500 Afghan students cross the border on a daily basis without any visa or passport, thus enabling them to continue their education in Pakistan.
- Special examThe registration process will begin Monday, and every student will be issued a card after verification by school officials, Islam added.The move was welcomed by tribal Afghans living near the border.Ali Shinwari, an Afghan resident living near the Torkham border, said his 16-year-old son Muhammad Irfan Shinwari, a tenth grader at a public high school in Torkham, missed his classes over the last five months plus his matriculation exam due to the border tension between the two countries. "I am very happy that my son will now go back to his school and will continue his education. But I request that Pakistani authorities please make special arrangements for all those Afghan students who missed their matriculation exams," Shinwari said. The local school authorities said they had already requested the Education Department to arrange a special exam for Afghan students who missed their final school exam this year. "We have requested the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education authorities to make special arrangements for these Afghan students to save their precious year and hope the authorities will do something soon," Abdur Razaq, principal of Pak-International Public High School in Torkham said.