Times Union: After horrific attack, Peshawar Army Public School
students visit SUNY Poly in Albany
Published:
Thursday, July 30, 2015 - 09:40
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="359"]
CNSE Associate Vice President Christopher Borst teaches Pakistani
students from the Peshawar Army Public School in Pakistan about
clean rooms on their tour of SUNY Polytechnic Institutes College of
Nanoscale and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE) on Wednesday, July 29,
2015, in Albany, N.Y. (Olivia Nadel/ Special to the Times
Union)[/caption]
SUNY Polytechnic Institute is welcoming students from a school in Pakistan that was the scene of one of the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11.
The high-school-age young men from the Peshawar Army Public School are in Albany Wednesday for a weeklong set of classes taught by the SUNY Poly faculty and staff.
"I am so thankful for this opportunity," said Hammad, one of the students. (Organizers of the trip asked that the student's last names not be used by the media.) "I know that this education will help us in the future."
In December, the Peshawar school was attacked by gunmen linked to the Taliban, who killed 132 students — ranging in age from 8 to 18 — as well as 13 faculty members.
International outrage over the attack prompted the Pakistani government, which has been criticized for its lackluster pursuit of violent extremists, to strengthen its military and legal efforts.
The student trip is completely funded by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
The students are in the country for two weeks, and are being hosted by the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C., where their packed itinerary began earlier this week. In addition to tours of the Pentagon and Capitol, the group met Secretary of State John Kerry.
