Daily Times

On Wednesday, President Dr Arif Alvi called for the enrollment of around 26 million out-of-school children in the country through drastic measures, including education emergencies, double shifts in educational institutes, and utilizing the mosque for teaching purposes.

Addressing an event connected to World Education Day, the President also suggested a mechanism to engage the newly graduated and intermediate students to teach the out-of-school children, offering them a stipend.

He also advocated the promotion of online education, besides extending the facilities to doctors, engineers, and trained workforce in the country to discourage the trend of moving abroad.

He said the alarming figure of 26 million out-of-school children was problematic for the country and exemplified other countries, including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where children enrollment was around 98 to 100 percent.

He said educating the children was paramount to producing a skilled and qualified workforce, not merely the laborers.

Lauding the contribution of the partner organizations, the President said the country should take advantage of their services for the benefit of future generations.

He informed the gathering that since Pakistan’s inception, around 55,000 schools have been built, and the enrollment of out-of-school children required another 50,000 schools, which took a lot of work considering the province’s educational budget. In such a scenario, he added that out-of-the-box solutions were necessary to cope with the challenge.

Reiterating his suggestion to use the mosque platform as a learning center, he said the worship places were equipped with all basic facilities, including electricity and clean drinking water. He added that the platform could teach out-of-school children, including boys and girls, at separate mosques at alternative times.

President Alvi lauded the Benazir Income Support Program for its contributions to children’s and mothers’ health and suggested linking financial assistance with out-of-school children’s enrollment.

Highlighting the ratio of 15-20 percent of Dyslexia disease in the country, he appreciated the measures taken for the suffering children.

The President also said the enrollment in higher education after intermediate was around 10-12 percent in Pakistan compared to 24 percent in neighboring countries.

Calling for the promotion of online education, he said that the Allama Iqbal Open University could also be used to teach out-of-school children as the university had considerably enhanced its admissions.

He said the educated and skilled workforce was moving abroad owing to the lack of opportunities in the country, which necessitated the provision of facilities to them. Federal Education Secretary Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry, Special Secretary Mohiyuddin Wani, Director General of Pakistan Institute of Education Dr Muhammad Shahid Saroya, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ahsan Bakhtawari, head of Allahwala Trust Shahid Anwar and representatives of USAID, UNICEF, UNECSO and JAICA attended the event.