Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Senator Dr Sania Nishtar in a ceremony held here Thursday lauded top performers in Ehsaas School Stipends enrollment drive. Chairing the appreciation award ceremony, the SAPM eulogized the valuable contribution of the field teams and regional officials of Ehsaas engaged in enrolling 6.44 million children countrywide, so far. Secretary Ismat Tahira, DG Naveed Akbar, DG Khalid Siddique and DG Zafar Kamal also graced the occasion. During the period of Jul to Sep 2021, majority of field teams met all enrollment targets on time and made substantial progress on creating awareness and leading enrollment drive for the education conditional cash transfer programme of Ehsaas. The programme enrolled 907,486 children in all tehsils of the country which shows 99.3% achievement against the target of 913,590. According to the breakdown by region, 520,071 children were enrolled in Punjab; 191,321 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; 126,680 in Sindh; 26,039 in Balochistan; 27,844 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; 13,355 in Gilgit Baltistan; and 2,176 in Islamabad. To celebrate the achievement of this major milestone, a cohort of 30 high performing field officers were invited to Islamabad. Terming field human resources a great asset for Ehsaas, Dr Sania said, “The active engagement of the Ehsaas field teams, NCHD, and district administrations has resulted in continuous increase in enrollments. Our all-field teams are to be applauded for their crucial role in bringing out of school children particularly girls to schools.” She also applauded the efforts of high achieving officials and encouraged them for their future milestones. Adding further, she mentioned, “Children in all classes, in every tehsil, of all Ehsaas eligible families can benefit from Ehsaas school stipends. Girls get a higher stipend amount. All enrollments are being made through Ehsaas School Stipends Enrollment App. The process is end-to-end digitized which has also eliminated the room for misuse in terms of ineligible children being enrolled.” The event was attended by the high performing officials from Gujranwala, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha, Multan, Lakki Marwat, Malakand, Abbottabad, Kohistan, Skardu, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Poonch, Hattian Bala, Mastung, Naseerabad, Karachi, Tando Allahyar and Islamabad. The ceremony also included field reflections. A plan was also discussed to expedite the enrollment drive in the first quarter of year 2022. Later, Dr Sania gave away appreciation certificates among high performers. The Ehsaas Education Stipends programme is being implemented in all Tehsils of the country, providing financial assistance to deserving households for the education of their children at primary, secondary and higher secondary levels.